


Built to Fly – Not Break

by elle_delajoie



Category: Glee
Genre: F/F, F/M, Finn Lives, M/M, Not Blaine or Klaine Friendly, s3+ Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:02:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 37
Words: 225,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24995077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elle_delajoie/pseuds/elle_delajoie
Summary: Kurt accepts Blaine’s angry serenade for the breakup song that it is. What happens when he pursues the opportunity to get to know Chandler?Complete.
Relationships: Kurt Hummel/Chandler Kiehl
Comments: 463
Kudos: 417





	1. Chapter 1

“Oh, woah-oh.” Blaine finished the song as angrily as he had started it.

There was dead silence for a few seconds, and then people began to clap.

“Snap,” Santana snarked.

Blaine turned on his heels, which clacked as he stormed out of the room.

Kurt sat dazed. _Did Blaine just publicly break up with me?_

The bell rang and he grabbed his bag. Instead of heading towards his first period class, he went to the nurse. He convinced her that he needed to go home. She called Carole, who said it was fine to send him home. Kurt stopped by his locker and grabbed all of his books. 

He stopped by Miss Pillsbury’s office. He stood right outside her doorway.

“Miss Pillsbury?”

“Yes, Kurt. Please come in. How can I help you?”

“I think I’ll stand here. Can you get my assignments for the next two days and email them to me? I’m on my way home.” He held up the nurse’s pass for her to see.

“Oh, you’re sick. Yes. Of course.”

She took out a pad and took down his email address.

“Thank you. I have all of my books with me. I don’t want to come back Monday and be behind.”

“I hope you feel better soon.” 

“Me too. Thanks for your help.”

“Of course.”

* * *

Kurt kept his focus on the road and away from his thoughts. He made it home quickly and took everything up to his room. He had ignored the texts he had gotten on the drive until he got upstairs.

\--You’ve never asked to go home from school, so I agreed. What’s wrong? Do I need to come take you to the doctor?

He replied quickly.

\--No, I don’t need to go to the doctor. 

His phone rang and made him jump.

“Are you sure you’re alright, honey?”

“I’m sure. I’m home now. I’m going to take a shower and get started on a paper that I need to write while I wait for Miss Pillsbury to send me a list of my assignments.”

“You don’t sound sick.”

“It’s a different kind of sick that a doctor can’t fix. I’m hoping you’ll call me in for tomorrow too.”

“We’ll talk about it when I get home. I need to get back to work.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, honey. I’ll see you this afternoon.”

He put his phone back down on his dresser. He powered it down. He grabbed the novel he’d been reading in English class and his laptop. He took them down to the dining room to work where he could sit comfortably. He made himself a cup of half decaf coffee and sat down and got started.

He paused for lunch. He checked his email and copied down the assignments. After he finished eating, he went back to the paper he had been working on. He finished it up, proofread it, and moved on to the assignment list. He did both assignments for each class before he moved on.

* * *

“Kurt?” Carole called out, as she came into the house from the garage.

“In here,” he responded from the dining room.

She came in and sat down around the corner from where he sat at the foot of the table, the spot he’d chosen for its natural light. He had pulled the curtains back once he finished using his laptop.

“So, what’s up that you were too sick to stay at school, yet I see that you’ve be doing schoolwork all day.”

“Did you know that if you don’t actually GO to school, you can learn the same amount of material in probably one-third of the time? I did all of my assigned readings and the assignments, plus wrote a 5-page paper in the last 8 hours.”

She chuckled. “I suppose that’s true for students like you. I guess I hadn’t considered it before, but I have heard homeschooling moms say that their kids only spend half the day on schoolwork.”

“I can see how that could be true.”

“You’re avoiding my question.”

“Also true.” He stacked up what he had finished and put the folders in a stack and stacked the books up.

“So, what happened?”

“Remember Chandler?”

“The guy from the music store you met the other day?”

“That’s the one. He started sending me silly texts that were flirty I guess, but they were more ridiculous than actually being come-ons. I mean one said, ‘You must have been Cleopatra in another life because you have a fabulous asp.’”

She chuckled. “That’s both flirty and ridiculous, but not really in a serious way.”

“Especially since we spoke for less than two minutes and we were facing each other the whole time. He left the store before I did. He never had the opportunity to see my backside. So, I just took it as a silly pun.”

“Makes sense.”

“Well, Blaine was here yesterday after school and we were going to watch a movie. I left him in my room to get a tray of snacks. My phone kept pinging with texts and he took it upon himself to pick it up and read my incoming texts and then the text log from Chandler. He said I was cheating on him.”

“Were you sexting with him or propositioning him, or even just giving him actual compliments or anything?”

“You tell me.” He powered his phone back on and pulled up the texts from Chandler back to the beginning.

She took the phone and began reading. Kurt got up and put his folders in his satchel and put the coffee mug and his dishes in the dishwasher. She had finished when he came back.

“Well, I don’t get the one about _The Way We Were_. That’s not a happy ending, so I have no idea why he would want to recreate it other than just because it was filmed in New York City.”

“I don’t know. I didn’t respond to that, as you saw. And I didn’t call him and sing into his voicemail. I honestly couldn’t tell if he was joking or serious.”

“I think there’s a good chance that he likes you, but there’s nothing blatantly suggestive in what’s he’s written. You didn’t encourage him, but it looks to me like if you did, he’d up the ante and be more bold.”

Kurt didn’t say anything for a minute. “He complimented my hippo brooch that day at the music store.”

“I see.”

“I’ve never had anyone be ‘in’ to me. I guess he could be flirting, but I wasn’t cheating on Blaine.”

“I agree.”

Kurt just sat there, staring out into space thinking. Carole doesn’t think I cheated on him either.

“So, what did Blaine do besides say that you were cheating on him?”

“Oh, he stomped out of here yesterday. And then this morning before school in Glee, he sang ‘It’s Not Right, But It’s Okay’ after he introduced the song by saying, ‘This is for anyone who’s ever been cheated on.’ He didn’t just sing the song. He nearly screamed it, while very visibly angry. He stormed out afterwards.”

“I’m sorry, honey, but I don’t know that song well enough to understand the underlying meaning of him choosing it.” She pulled her phone out and looked it up and read through the lyrics quickly. “Oh, it’s a breakup song.”

“It is.”

“So, that’s it? He broke up with you in a song in front of the whole Glee Club?”

“That’s how it seems to me, but I suspect that he’s just trying to publicly shame me and make me look bad. He spent months texting with Sebastian and even spent time talking on the phone with him. He even leaked our choice of using Michael Jackson songs for Regionals to him. But everyone got over calling him a traitor when Sebastian tossed the slushie at him. One that was intended for me. If he’d minded his own business, it would have hit me right around waist level. But he dove to the right and basically leaned into it, so it got him in the face. But his act of gallantry earned his way back into the hearts of the Glee Club members who had just earlier that day been calling him traitor. Puck called him a ‘modern-day eggs Benedict.’”

Carole chuckled.

“I know, but still. The sentiment remains the same, despite his mis-naming of the person he was referring to.”

She nodded.

“I’ve been thinking about it on and off all day. I’m going to accept his very public breakup declaration. I am asking to stay home again tomorrow though. I’d actually like to go out of town, maybe to Columbus or Toledo. I want to go upstairs and do some spring cleaning. I need a nice fresh start. I already did my schoolwork.”

“Sure, honey. You don’t seem as upset as I expected.”

“Things haven’t been great for quite a while. He’s been skipping our planned time together. And then yesterday, he wouldn’t even listen to me and just insisted that I had been cheating on him.” He carefully avoided saying “make-out sessions” since they hadn’t been that even when Blaine had shown up recently.

“Mmm hmm.” She gave him time to gather his thoughts.

Kurt stood up. “I’m going to go ahead up and get started on that spring cleaning.”

“I should join you, but I lack your enthusiasm. I think I’m going to shower and read a book.”

“I’m looking forward to the day when no one tells me what books to read anymore,” he said, as he put his satchel on his shoulder. He picked up the rest his books and took everything upstairs.

* * *

“Gray,” he said out loud, as he looked through the clothes in his closet that he had been wearing most frequently.“That seems to be this year’s theme. Gray and more gray. And then, even more gray.”

He continued to sort through his clothes. Once he had finished, he started trying things on that he hadn’t worn all winter and removed anything that didn’t fit or he was certain that he would never rewear. He boxed the clothes up and took them down to the Navigator. He found a sturdy box and packed up anything from his shelves that he no longer wanted that weren’t suitable to leave behind on his shelves as decorations. 

He had been considering staying behind in Lima all summer to spend more time with Blaine, but he began to think about going to New York as soon as school let out. He knew he’d miss out on seeing his dad and working at the shop, but the idea of leaving was really appealing.

He looked around and realized how little evidence there was of Blaine being a part of his life there was in his room.The prom picture was it. He took the frame down and removed the photo. He put the frame into one of the donation boxes knowing that he wouldn’t want to see it anymore. He put the crown and scepter in too. He was moving on.

 _No need to drag humiliation from the past with me_.

He had dusted as he had gone through the stuff on his shelves, so his last step to having the room finished was to vacuum. He decided to leave cleaning the bathroom to its normal time slot. He vacuumed and took the remaining boxes down to his Navigator. He knocked on Carole’s door as he came back inside.

“Hey, honey.”

“I’ve finished. I’ll be up in my room. I think I’m going to order a pizza and start researching places to live in New York.”

“Ooh, pizza sounds good. Why don’t you just order one that we can split? Finn’s not coming home for dinner.”

“Sure.”

* * *

Carole texted him an hour later when the pizza arrived.

He took his laptop with him downstairs. “I’ve been looking at apartments. It’s ridiculously expensive to live in New York City. An apartment the size of my bedroom costs too much to rent. I’m going to have to do some do something really creative to be able to live in space smaller than my bedroom.”

“That is small. Do you have pictures?”

He opened the laptop, moved it to where she could see the screen, and showed her the tabs he had open.

“Wow. Those are tiny.”

“I’m going to do some drawings tonight. I haven’t done anything creative in a long time. I bet that Cassius could help me.”

“What are you thinking?”

“Well, all of the ones I’ve looked at have 10’ ceilings. And at first I was thinking of a lofted bed, but honestly I’ve never liked the idea of a bunk bed, even when I was a kid. So, I’m thinking the opposite – some kind of trundle bed under a platform maybe? That’s why I’d need help from Cassius. I can weld, but I still like to get his input.”

“I’d love to see your ideas once you draw them up.”

“Sure.”

* * *

Kurt ended up starting over several times before he got a base that seemed suitable. He took it downstairs and made several photocopies and went back upstairs with them so he wouldn’t have to keep redrawing the base over and over again.

Before he started again, he considered how he should respond to Blaine’s performance. 

_He broke up with me publicly. There were a dozen witnesses. I’m going to change my Facebook status, but I’ll just change the privacy setting on my relationship status so it’s just not visible anymore. I don’t want a huge blowout online._

He sat down and started his laptop up. Once he had Facebook loaded, he also changed people’s ability to post to his wall and set it to require his approval to be for anything to be posted. He also changed his settings to require his approval to be tagged in photos. He ended up spending about the same amount of time on his Facebook wall and photos as he had on his clothes.

When he finished, he powered his computer down and put it on his dresser. He went back to his small living space design ideas.

* * *

By the time he was ready the next morning, he had decided that leaving it up in the air and open for interpretation wasn’t what he wanted to do. Sam knocked on his door and brought him back to the present. He got up and opened the door.

“Hey, are you okay? You obviously left school at some point yesterday and when I came back from work, it was quiet in here. I didn’t want to bother you in case you were sick, but you don’t look sick.”

“I’m not physically sick. I was too angry to stay at school and focus. I came home and wrote my English paper and did the rest of the homework that Miss Pillsbury sent me.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re not sick.”

“Thanks. I’m not going to school today either. I was waiting to come out until after you and Finn had left, so he wouldn’t ask me questions. Give me your honest opinion of Blaine’s performance yesterday morning.”

Sam leaned back against the doorframe. “Well, it was angry and obviously very personal to him. My guess is that he thinks you and Chandler are seeing each other behind his back.”

“Actually, he thinks the texting between us is the cheating.”

“Oh. Those were ridiculous.”

“They were. He read through my text log and accused me of cheating Wednesday afternoon. I’m considering what he did to be a very public breakup.”

“Well, he did sing a song that told you to pack your bags up and leave. I can see why you’d take it that way. So, that’s it? It’s over?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t seem devastated.”

“I’m both. Devastated and relieved in equal measure, but not simultaneously.”

“I see.”

“He was my first boyfriend, but I did a lot of replaying of our story in my mind since yesterday morning. There’s a lot that no one knows. I know all of the girls think he’s a Disney prince, but he’s human like everyone else. He has strengths and weaknesses like the rest of us. It’s just that after a lot of soul searching, I don’t think that I can deal with someone who publicly airs our dirty laundry, who clearly doesn’t trust me, and who is hypocritical so much of the time.”

“The hypocritical part must be part of the things everyone doesn’t know.”

“Well, you part of know it. You know that we met Sebastian back in October, about three weeks before you came back.”

Sam nodded.

“It was February when he gave away the fact that we were doing Michael Jackson songs for Regionals. That’s over three and a half months of him texting and talking to Sebastian.”

“So, it was okay for him to have a guy friend that he texted with for months, but not you?”

“Exactly. When I brought that up, he said, ‘But I didn’t like Sebastian.’ I don’t know Chandler well enough to know whether I might like him. I talked to him for less than two minutes in the music shop. You’ve read all of the texts. I like him as a human being enough to respond to his texts with smiley faces. But I’d have to actually spend time with him to know if I’d want to be friends with him. Anyway, Sebastian hit on Blaine and flirted with him constantly. He knew that Sebastian was interested. So, even if the stupid puns are actually meant to be flirting, it’s still no different. He claimed that all of Sebastian’s texts were ‘family friendly’. I let Carole read all of the ones from Chandler yesterday morning. If I let her read them, then obviously I consider them to be family friendly as well. So, a guy, who might be flirting with me, texts me for two days and Blaine’s reaction was what you saw yesterday. Can you imagine the response I would have gotten if I had been texting and talking to Chandler on the phone for over three MONTHS?”

“I get it. I won’t ask about whatever else was going on. You know I’ve never liked him and I never thought he was good enough for you, but after I told you once, I let it drop. You’re my friend and I just want you to be happy. Those silly texts from Chandler have made you smile more in three days than I’ve seen you smile in the last three weeks. Whether you like Chandler as more than a possible friend or not, I like him because he makes you laugh. Life is hard enough. We need to find joy where we can and I don’t see Blaine bringing joy into your life. Your clothes look like the buildings at the beginning of each level in _De Blob_ these days.”

Kurt laughed. “I noticed that yesterday when I went through my closet. Gray has been the cornerstone of my wardrobe this year.”

“Which is fine if that’s what you actually like now. But somehow I think if we did a Lady Gaga reboot, you wouldn’t wear that outfit I saw in the video of ‘Bad Romance’.”

Kurt pondered what Sam had said. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and let it out. “You’re probably right. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking. If he gets that irate about a guy texting, how is he going to handle me being in New York City while he’s still here finishing high school?”

“Oh! That reminds me. Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For reading through all of those really complicated rules about graduation and transfer students. I took those in with the parts you had highlighted and Miss Pillsbury called the State Department of Education and got some kind of forms to fill out and she turned them in. I’m going to get a waiver for those state tests that I didn’t take and I’m going to get to graduate.”

Kurt stepped closer and hugged Sam. “That’s amazing! I’m so glad.”

“Me too. I hadn’t told my parents yet because I knew how upset they would be since this was supposed to be a temporary 6-month stay in Ohio so I could graduate with my friends. So back to what you said that made me remember to tell you. You don’t think you can handle how he would be with you in New York without him.”

“Not after what I saw yesterday. Anyway, you need to get to school.”

“Have fun playing hooky.”

“I will. Come knock when you get home from work tonight, even if it’s quiet in here.”

“Alright. See ya!”

“Hey, wait.” Kurt stepped out into the hallway. “Are you busy tomorrow morning?”

Sam stopped at the top of the stairway. “Nope.”

“You are now.”

Sam smiled and shook his head as walked down the stairs.

* * *

As soon as Finn and Sam were gone, Kurt headed to Toledo. He dropped of his items to a resale shop and looked around while they looked through his stuff. He tried on some summer clothes and picked a couple of short-sleeved button-ups and a couple of pairs of long cargo shorts that were a cut that he had seen in Korean fashion. He also found a pair of white leather low-top Chucks that looked like they had been worn once or twice for half of what he’d pay retail.

He took what they didn’t buy and put his new stuff in the back of the Navigator. He stopped one more place and sold a few more things. He dropped the other non-clothing itemshe had brought with him off at a nearby Goodwill, and then went inside to look around.

He went to Chipotle and took his lunch to the lake and ate while enjoying the view. His mind wandered as his got lost in the repetitive waves and sounds of birds singing and calling to each other. Eventually, he pulled his thoughts back together sat and debated about what to do. Once he had made up his mind, he pulled his phone out and texted Blaine.

\--Meet me at the McDonald’s near the main exit in Findlay at 4:30, please. If you’re not there by 4:45, I’ll assume you’re not coming and I’ll leave.

He turned his phone back off. He leaned back and relaxed. He closed his eyes and let the sun shine down on his face while he let his thoughts roam again as he listened to the waves and the wind and the songs of the birds. After a bit, the clouds blocked the sun, and the wind picked up. He started to get too cold to continue to sit still, so he got up and walked along the path for a while before turning back to head to the parking lot. 

He drove to Staples and bought a high-quality 1-inch binder, some graph paper, a sketchpad, a nice cork-backed 6-inch stainless steel ruler, and an eraser that was like a click-pencil, but with an eraser inside. He also found a very narrow pencil case he liked. After he paid, he used the 3-hole punch in the copy area on the sketchpad paper and put it in the binder with the graph paper. He put the other items in the pencil case. 

He walked down the strip mall to Michael’s and looked around. He knew that Carole wanted a new wreath to put on the front door, so he walked through the floral section. He asked the person at the service desk if anyone would mind if he used the counter area in the floral department to assemble a wreath. She shrugged. He went and picked out everything, paid for it, and went back to use the counter. Once he finished, he slipped it into a large bag and took it out to the Navigator.

He left Toledo and drove to Findlay to meet Blaine. The hour-long drive was a tough one. He turned the radio on to drown out his thoughts so he could focus on the road.

* * *

He parked and sat outside at a table and worked on a sketch while he waited for an hour or so. He put everything back in the Navigator and listened to some music for little bit, steeling himself for what would inevitably be an uncomfortable conversation. 

At 4:25, he got back out and went inside. He got in line to order an iced tea. About the time he made it to the cash register, Blaine came in and got in line. Kurt waited for him. Once he had his drink, Kurt went back outside and sat at the table the farthest from the entrance where he had been sitting before. Blaine sat down in the only other chair at the table, which was across from Kurt. No one else was outside.

“I thought you were sick,” Blaine said.

“Not physically.”

Blaine looked confused.

“I asked you to meet me because I didn’t want there to be any misunderstandings. I haven’t read any of your texts, if there have been any. Actually, I’ve had my phone off except to send a couple of messages. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. I had a lot to think about.”

Blaine took several sips of his coffee. “The Lima Bean has better coffee.”

“It does,” he acknowledged. “If you’re expecting this to be when I apologize to you, that’s not going to happen. I’m also not going to get up in front of the group and sing ‘I Have Nothing’ or some other apology song.”

Blaine looked confused again.

“I didn’t cheat on you, therefore I will not apologize for something I didn’t do. I will not behave in a way that projects an air of contriteness. I will return to school Monday and things will go on as they are. You and I are no longer dating. We are still both members of the New Directions and we’re going to Nationals in less than two months. What will change is that I won’t kowtow to you or Rachel anymore. I will fight tooth and nail for a featured part at Nationals. You’ve been featured several times already. In the four songs that had guys in them so far this year, you were featured in three of them. This is my last high school competition. I’m not going to be in the background if I have anything to say about it.”

“Wait. You’re breaking up with me?”

“No, you did that yesterday morning. Remember? ‘Shut the door and leave your key.’ ‘Don’t come running back to me.’ ‘I’d rather be alone than unhappy.’ Any of those ring a bell?”

“It was a song.”

“A breakup song practically screamed at me with a lot of emoting that made your point quite clear.”

“I was angry.”

“I got that. You stomped out of my room and left Wednesday afternoon. Your anger was quite evident. And then you brought that anger to school with you yesterday morning and showed it to the entire Glee Club. And you announced your song by indicating your reason for choosing it as your Whitney piece for the week. I think the whole thing was pretty clear. I don’t think anyone misunderstood your meaning.”

“Obviously, you did.”

“What I understood is that you don’t trust me to stay faithful to you. If you can’t trust me not to cheat on you, then we don’t have what it takes to make it. We won’t survive a long-distance relationship. Trust is crucial. Without it, we have no foundation for our relationship. And to be honest, I don’t think you actually consider what I did as cheating because if you did, you would believe that you had been cheating with Sebastian for over three months. You knew he liked you. You think that Chandler likes me. You say you don’t like Sebastian romantically. I don’t know Chandler well enough to know if I have more than two minutes worth of things to say to him, which was about how long I talked to him at the music store.”

“You gave him your phone number.”

“You gave yours to Sebastian.”

“He said he wanted to talk about Dalton.”

“Chandler wanted to talk about New York City.”

“Yeah, I heard. He wants to reenact the end of _The Way We Were_ with you.”

“Have you ever even watched that movie?”

Blaine looked away. “What does it matter?”

“The ending of that movie is sad. The main character sees her ex with another woman from across the street. I couldn’t even figure out what he meant by that. Maybe he’s just so excited to be going to New York City that he wants to go and act out parts of movies that have been filmed there. He certainly didn’t name a romantic scene from a movie to act out.”

“Whatever. It was flirty.”

“And I suppose that Sebastian telling me that by the end of the school year I would have a Lima Bean apron and he would have you was supposed to be jovial and friendly.”

“He just liked to rile you up.”

“Actually no, he was just being a jerk and he’s apologized since. Back to what I was saying – I don’t think you actually consider the texts cheating, but I think you hate Chandler because he got some of my attention. You didn’t even know what Sam and I were looking at on my phone when Rachel and Santana were singing, but I saw the look on your face when you didn’t realize I was looking. You hate it when I talk to Sam. You hate it when you’re not the center of my attention. I think you sang that song yesterday morning because you knew it would turn everyone’s attention toward you, including mine. You thought it would make me fawn all over you and beg you to forgive me. Be honest. You thought I invited you out to apologize to you.”

Blaine didn’t answer.

“Whether you did or did is irrelevant, I guess. I’m not going to apologize for something I didn’t do. I just wanted to make sure we were clear on where we stand before I go back to school Monday morning. And I’d appreciate it if you tell everyone the truth, but obviously I can’t force you to. Either way, I’d appreciate it if you just go on with life. Do your thing and I’ll do mine.”

“You told me you’d never say goodbye to me.”

“That wasn’t a carte blanche to accuse me of something, refuse to talk to me about it, and then publicly humiliate me for something that I didn’t do. When I said that to you, I honestly never, ever expected you to treat me so disrespectfully. I thought you really cared about me as a person. Your facial expressions yesterday during the song were filled with rage. Ask anyone who was there. It was intentionally vindictive and hurtful. You were angry and you wanted everyone to know just how angry you were. Mission accomplished.”

“Glee Club is a place for us to express our emotions through song.”

“I get that. I do. But now everyone in that room besides Sam thinks I cheated on you. Your emotional catharsis cost me my reputation amongst the only people who have ever been even remotely decent to me.” Kurt took the last sip of his tea. 

“They’re my friends too.”

“I think more of them are your friends than mine, but that’s neither here nor there at this point. There really isn’t anything left to say. I’m not the one saying goodbye. I’m the one accepting your breakup song for what it was – you telling me that you don’t trust me enough to be in a relationship with me. There will be no reconciliation.”

“I didn’t mean it as a way to break up with you.”

“But you meant it to publicly hurt me. I can’t and won’t accept that from someone who is supposed to love me.” He got up and threw his cup in the trash and left.


	2. Chapter 2

When he got home he saw Carole's car in the driveway. He got the wreath out and quietly hung it on the front door before letting himself in.

He called out as he stepped in, "Carole?"

"Yes, honey?" she responded from the kitchen.

"Can you come in the living room for a minute."

"Coming."

He closed the door. When she came around the corner he said, "Can you come closer and stand over here?"

She moved to where he indicated.

"Close your eyes."

He opened the door so that she was directly facing it. "Open your eyes."

"Oh, Kurt. It's beautiful. It's perfect. I love it." She stepped closer to look at it. "Where did you find it? I've been looking for one just like this." She narrowed her eyes and looked at him. She started to smile and shake her head. "You didn't find it. You made it."

"Guilty as charged. Happy Mother's Day – early. I thought this way you'd get to enjoy it for longer. I know you have one that you put up for July."

"You're right, honey. I do." She stepped closer and hugged him. "Thank you. I really love it."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you like it."

"Very much so. What else did you do today?"

"I took some clothes to sell, I bought a few things at the same place, I got a few drawing supplies, and I ate lunch at a park along Lake Erie."

"Sounds nice."

"That part was. Then I met Blaine in Findlay and made sure that he understood that I'm not going to apologize or act penitent over something I didn't do and that I considered him singing me that song in public to be us breaking up."

She sighed. "Oh, honey. That's hard. It's always hard."

"I'm going to go grab my stuff. I'll be right back." He brought everything else in and took it through the kitchen and into the laundry room.

She followed him to the laundry room.

From there, he showed her what he had bought as he took each piece out of the bag.

"I like the clothes. They're more on the casual side than your school clothes, but they're nice for summer. They're still fashionable and not sloppy like basketball shorts and t-shirts with the sleeves cut off."

"Yeah, that's totally not my style." He took the tags off and tossed them into the washer. "I got these Chucks that may have been worn a couple of times, if at all."

"Oh, those will go with just about everything."

"My thoughts exactly. I'm going to go grab more clothes from my room to add to the load."

* * *

Kurt ate dinner with Carole alone again since Sam was at work and Finn was out with the guys. He brought his new drawing stuff down and showed her what he had been working on that afternoon.

"These are just some concept art drawings. I bought the graph paper to be able to use to draw the ideas to scale once I get a better feel for different options. I'm going to show them to Cassius to see what he thinks."

"What's that one?"

He turned it so she could see. "It's a concept drawing of a musical staff with notes on it that doubles as a wall drying rack."

"That's very creative."

"I was looking online at Ikea, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and the Container store to get ideas for what already exists that I might be able to incorporate versus making everything myself. I'm really leaning towards the drawers on sliders and that can go in the lower portion of a closet."

"I've seen photos of those in magazines."

"I'm going to look at some of those websites about tiny houses to see what they've done to utilize every square inch without feeling claustrophobic in the end."

"That's a good idea. I like what you've done so far."

* * *

About 15 minutes before he expected Sam to get back from work, Kurt looked around his room. It was spotless, except for his bed where he had been sitting to draw and research. He got up and showered quickly. He opened his door once he was dressed in lounge pants and an old t-shirt.

Sam popped his head in. "I'm back, but I'm going to shower. I'll be right back."

Kurt picked his phone up and texted Chandler.

-Hey. Are you busy tomorrow morning?

-I thought you were mad at me or something. You haven't answered any of my texts since Wednesday during school.

-Not mad. Super busy. Sorry. Tomorrow morning?

-Not busy, why?

-Do you want to go bowling with me and a friend of mine? We can go to lunch afterwards.

-I've never been bowling in the morning, but why not. Sure. Which bowling alley?

Kurt gave him the name of the place and the time.

-Great! See you and your friend there.

Kurt put his phone on the shelf next to his bed and made room for Sam to sit down when he came back. He looked through his drawings again while he waited. A few minutes later, Sam came in and plopped down beside him.

"What'cha drawing?"

"Just some different concept ideas for tiny living spaces. I looked in to apartments in New York City and a place the size of this bedroom is like $1000-$2000 a month, depending on the location."

"Ouch!"

"Yeah, exactly."

"Can I see?"

"Sure."

Sam looked through the stack of drawings. "These are all really cool. I've only ever seen you draw clothes. I guess I didn't realize that you could draw stuff like this."

"Well, I took drafting my freshman year before the incident with Mr. St. Pierre."

"You lost me there."

"Oh, he got addicted to cough syrup and was drugged up and cut his thumbs off in the shop room the beginning of my sophomore year. The school closed the shop classroom and never rehired a new teacher. I switched to an art class for the rest of the semester."

"That's awful."

"It really was. Anyway, I took drafting my freshman year, so I can do the drawings, but I didn't get far enough to start doing much work with the bigger tools. But I learned to weld at the shop. And I've gotten some hands-on skills helping some of the guys at the shop with different projects around their houses and ours. So, anyway – tomorrow morning. We're going bowling."

"In the morning?"

"Yep. All of the guys who wouldn't want me there will be sleeping off whatever party they're at tonight."

"Right. So, bowling. Is that all?"

"Well, you're my wingman. I invited Chandler. If we seem to hit it off, I want you to make up a reason why you can't go with us to lunch. If it's a total chore to make it through the bowling, I want you to stay with us for lunch, so he doesn't get the idea that it's a date."

"Okay."

"I met with Blaine after school today and made it clear that I wasn't going to apologize for something I didn't do. I also told him that the fact that he doesn't trust me enough to not cheat on him and that he didn't believe me when I told him the truth means that we don't have enough to keep us together through a long-distance relationship."

"Makes sense to me. Several people are annoyed that you're ignoring their texts and voicemails."

"Too bad. They'll live. I don't owe them an explanation. I'm not going to bother with it. If they think I'm the kind of person that would cheat on my boyfriend, then I'm not sure how interested I am in being friends with them. But I guess I'll look through them at some point this weekend and see where the line is. I don't want people harassing him. I'm against bullying. Bullying him isn't what I want. Mostly, I just want to be prepared for my audition a week from Monday and I want the group to start practicing for Nationals. I don't want to show up and learn everything the day before again. I want to be prepared."

"That would make it a lot more fun. When are we leaving?"

"9:40. I told him we'd meet him there at 10:00, which is when it opens."

"Got it. I'm going to go do homework until I fall asleep. I'll be ready at 9:30 and I'll follow you there."

"Thanks."

"Of course."

* * *

Kurt decided to go with his brown Docs with the green accents, dark wash skinny jeans, his orange shirt and orange tie with the dark olive green collarless wool jacket that he hadn't worn in ages, but had decided that he liked too much to let it go. He put the wooden flying ducks lapel pin on, grabbed his brown leather satchel with his laptop, slipped the new binder and pencil case in it, and headed downstairs to eat something before he left.

When he got to the kitchen, Sam was sitting at the island eating a plate of eggs.

"I made you some too." He pointed towards the stove.

Kurt grabbed a plate and put the eggs on it. He sat down with Sam to eat. "Thanks."

"No problem. I feel like a slouch though. You said we were going bowling, so I dressed casual and you look like a million bucks. Maybe I should go back up and at least put on a shirt that buttons."

"No, please just be yourself. No pretenses today. If he and I hit it off, we do. If we don't, we don't. I've done a lot of soul searching the last few days and I'm not going to 'tone it down' anymore. The last time I wore this outfit, Brittany told me how amazing it looked on me. And I think that was the last time anyone complimented anything I've worn until Monday when I met Chandler at the music store. I'm going to be as me as I can get. I'm not looking for someone who would like me if I just did X or Y, or if quit doing Z. Remember when Finn sang? I wish I had seen it live, but I've watched the video quite a few times. That's my new theme song. 'I Gotta Be Me'."

"Well, eat up. We need to go."

"Yes, Dad."

"Speaking of Burt, did you tell your dad about breaking up with Blaine?"

"Not yet. He'll be home this afternoon. I wanted to tell him in person, not over the phone. I also don't want Blaine brought up while we're out with Chandler. I don't know whether I'll have any interest in dating him, but if I decide that I do, I don't want him feeling like he had anything to do with my breakup with Blaine. Talking to Chandler is what exposed the crack, but not what caused it."

"Got it." Sam put his plate in the dishwasher, grabbed Kurt's satchel and leaned against the doorframe waiting on him. It didn't take Kurt long to finish. He put his stuff in the dishwasher too.

"Let's do this," Kurt said. "You've thought of a legitimate sounding reason to leave early, right?"

"Yep."

* * *

Kurt caught sight of Chandler from a ways back. "That's him. Sandy reddish-blond hair, my height, with the maroon or maybe burgundy button-down shirt, with the brown fitted chinos, and the deep brown vest," he said without pointing. "He looks a lot different today than he did on Monday. He was wearing a beanie and different glasses."

Chandler saw Kurt and walked towards the entrance. "This is a nice place. I've not been here before. I've only been to the one out near the highway and the one not far from the movie theater."

"Well, an old buddy of my dad's owns this place. It's where he always brought me as a kid. This is my best friend, Sam. Sam this is Chandler."

"Nice to meet you," Sam said.

"You too."

"Let's get in line and get you two some shoes."

After they got their shoes on and their names put in the computer, Sam picked up his ball and rolled for his first frame. "Yes! Eight! And it's not a split." He waited for his ball to come out of the return. He rolled again, knocking the other two pins down. He did a little victory dance on the way back to his seat. "Spare!"

While that was going on, Chandler said, "I love your outfit. It's a lot more colorful than what you had on at the music shop, but it suits you. I like the pin with the ducks."

"Thanks. You look a lot different today without the hat and you're wearing different glasses. I like your outfit too. It's unusual to find someone who likes vests." Up close Kurt could see that Chandler's burgundy shirt had tiny brown terriers as the print. He smiled. "I love dogs. My dad would never let me get one, but one day I'm definitely getting one."

"I love them too. My dad's allergic, so I've never gotten to have one either, but I'm waiting, maybe not quite patiently, but I'll get a couple."

Kurt hadn't been paying attention, but he heard Sam declare, "Spare!" He looked towards him. "Nice start. Your turn, Chandler."

He got up and Kurt watched him. He pulled his arm back, approached, and let go with a powerful backspin and knocked down all 10 pins. "Strike!"

Kurt stood up and picked up his ball. "You two aren't going to make this easy for me, are you?"

"You hate it when anyone lets you win," Sam said.

"That's true. But I also dislike losing." He took his two turns and ended up with a spare like Sam. "Not bad," he said as he sat back down.

Kurt and Chandler talked a bit here and there between turns. By the time they finished two games, they had been there an hour and a half. When they changed back into their own shoes, Kurt saw Chandler slip a ziptop bag out of his jacket pocket. He pulled out clean dress socks and put them on. He put the ones he had been wearing into the bag. He saw him discretely use some hand sanitizer and put his dark brown leather dress boots back on. He stood up and put the navy coat on that he had been wearing at the music shop.

Sam came back with his shoes, sat down, and put them on. He reached for his pocket, took his phone out, looked at it briefly, and put it back. He finished tying his shoes. He looked up at Kurt. "I have to go into work early. They wrote down a birthday party wrong."

"Oh, okay," Kurt said. "I guess I'll see you later."

"Yeah. Sorry to ditch you."

"It happens," Kurt said. "See ya."

Chandler said, "This was fun. It was nice meeting you. And better luck next time," he teased.

"Yeah, you beat me that second game by two pins." Sam smiled. "You're the best competition besides Kurt I've had in a while. Maybe we can do it again sometime. I better get going." He waved as he walked off.

Chandler asked, "Where does he work?"

"At that kiddie playland with the party rooms. Sir Jumpsalot."

"Sounds better than some places I can think of. I work at the café in the bookstore near the mall."

"The coffee there isn't bad, but I like the Lima Bean the best. Are you ready to go?" Kurt put his jacket back on. "What kind of food do you like?"

"I like everything."

"How about Japanese?"

"Sure."

"Do you want to ride with me or follow me? I was thinking we could order it to go and have a picnic out by the lake."

"I'll ride with you. You can just drop me back off here when we're done."

* * *

Kurt handed Chandler the picnic tablecloth, a small bag with cloth napkins and real tableware in it, and the drinks he had packed. He grabbed the bags of food and closed the back of the Navigator. They walked along the path to the picnic shelter, which was empty. Kurt sat the bags down on bench and took the tablecloth and spread it out. He removed the food from the bag and placed it on the tablecloth. Chandler put the other items down as well.

"You came prepared."

"I did. It's a habit."

"I like it. The food smells good." He handed Kurt a napkin and utensils and took a set for himself.

Kurt slid Chandler's container towards him and took the lid off of his own. He put a bite of his in his lid and offered it to Chandler. Once he saw what Kurt had done, he did the same.

"I like yours too," Kurt said. He took the lid off the tray of vegetable sushi that he had ordered and put it between them. "Help yourself."

They ate in silence for a few minutes.

"I have a confession," Chandler said.

"Okay…"

"I recognized you in the music shop Monday. When I saw it was you, I stopped and tried to get myself together, but I didn't manage to do a very good job of it."

"Go on." Kurt was intrigued.

"Well, two years ago, in the fall, I was taking a journalism class at school and one of our ongoing assignments was that we had to write an article about a sporting event each week. The week in question, North Lima's game was an away game and I didn't want to try to get my mom or dad to drive me that far, so I went to the McKinley versus Thurston game and wrote my article about our two rivals and which one seemed like the bigger threat. You were the kicker."

"Oh, my God. You saw the 'Single Ladies' field goal."

"I did. It was truly amazing. I waited around to see who you were after the game. I tried to get close enough to interview you, but I didn't succeed. I did get a roster with the team numbers so I could write up my story. I looked you up online and found a video of you doing the full dance with two girls."

Kurt shook his head. "It had to have been Britt that uploaded it. Blonde, insists that her cat tells her things?"

Chandler shrugged slightly. "It was on the _Fondue for Two_ channel."

"Definitely Brittany."

"I looked through her other videos, but none of the rest of them had you in them."

"Well, that's good news, I think."

"But then I didn't find much until I went to a McKinley versus North Lima basketball game that winter and I saw you cheering."

"I did cheer that year."

"I may have started attending McKinley games just to watch you cheer."

Kurt blushed. "You're kidding, right?"

"Not one bit. I watched you sing that Celine Dion song for Nationals. You were spectacular. I saw you again in person when you cheered at McKinley's baseball games against North Lima. I'm the third baseman. It took everything in my power to concentrate on the game instead of watching you."

Kurt blushed even more.

"Then junior year, I went to a McKinley game in the fall and you weren't on the team anymore and you didn't cheer. I couldn't find anything. I thought maybe you had moved out of town. But since I had heard you sing, I thought maybe you might be in choir, so I went to the Show Choir Sectionals that fall. And it seemed that you had moved. You were singing with the Warblers. You were fun to watch, but didn't get featured, which was disappointing. I was out of town at my grandparents over spring break and missed Regionals that year. But later that spring when I searched again, I found that someone named 'StrsndHtr' made a New Directions YouTube channel. There were what appeared to be classroom performances and several from the McKinley auditorium. There was a video of you singing 'As If We Never Said Goodbye' which was beautiful. The only other one you were in was 'Born This Way'. That shirt was amazing and I liked your hair all spiked up like that."

Kurt blushed. "I can guess whose channel that is."

"Was. It's not up anymore, unfortunately."

"Makes sense given who probably uploaded videos to it."

"I was disappointed, but it did show that you were back at McKinley. I went back for a football game this past fall, but you weren't on the team. I went to Sectionals. The Michael Jackson set list was really good, but you weren't featured enough."

"Amen."

Chandler laughed. "And at Regionals, you weren't featured at all and I was really annoyed."

"You and me both," Kurt lamented teasingly. "So you found me in the music shop."

"I did. I had never gotten up the nerve to seek you out. You're just so – you. SO out of my league. But when I saw you, I took a deep breath and decide to go for it. I thought I had completely blown it with my fanboying, but you didn't block me when I sent you the silly pick-up line puns that I found on Google."

"So you were flirting?"

"I was offering the potential of flirting, but you just sent back smiley emojis mostly. So, I thought that you must have at least been a little bit entertained."

"I was. What was with the comment about _The Way We Were_?"

"I was just thinking of finding the places in New York City where famous movies had been filmed and going to them and acting parts of them out. And for whatever reason, that was just the first one that popped into my head."

"I see."

"When you didn't text back after I asked for you to sing into my voicemail, I figured I had gone too far and you thought I was some total weirdo and you decided not to speak to me again. I just love your voice. I think we'd sound really good together. I'm a baritone, but I can sing in the tenor range up to about F3 without flipping into falsetto."

"I'll have to take your word for that until I hear you sing," Kurt smiled at him.

"You mean you're not just going to take me back to my car immediately after we finish eating?"

"Not unless you want me to. I thought we could go for a hike. It hasn't rained all that much yet and the path looks decent."

"Sure. I'd love to." He suddenly spoke much more quietly sounded really unsure of himself. "You mean I haven't completely ruined my chances of us being friends?"

"Not at all." Kurt thought about how strange it was for someone to be so in to him, but he certainly wasn't turned off by the fact that a cute guy had liked him for over two years. The whole idea of being the pursued rather than the pursuer actually was intriguing. "You said that your audition is this week. What did you end up choosing for your audition piece?"

"I've decided to go with 'Edelweiss' and 'More I Cannot Wish You'. Both of them are pretty slow, but if done well, they can make a good impression. And the last song is a medley. What about you?"

"Rachel thinks I should do 'Music of the Night', but while I can sing it, I don't think I have the right tone for it. I want to do something bold and unconventional. I don't want to jinx it though. You could skip school and come watch me. It's a week from Monday. For my video, I sent in 32 bars from 'Grow for Me', 'Giants in the Sky', 'Not While I'm Around', and 'Let Him Live'."

"I'll see what I can do about skipping school," he winked at Kurt. "Now, I know four songs that you aren't singing."

Both of them finished eating. Chandler put the trash in the bags from the restaurant and Kurt picked up the rest of the stuff. They took it back to the Navigator.

Chandler slipped the bag with the socks in it out of his pocket and put it on the floorboard of the front seat. "You think I'm nuts, right?" he asked. He followed Kurt back past the shelter and into the wooded area.

"About the socks? Definitely not. That's the main reason I have my own shoes. I'm not convinced the employees always disinfect the shoes. Plus, I like a really light ball that I can control, so I have a 10-pound ball that I've used since I was in junior high. I used to go there with my dad pretty often. Plus, everyone has their things. It only becomes a big deal when people who are trying to live together have the opposite stance. Like someone who insists on getting a space heater and keeping the sleeping area really warm and only sleeping under sheets and the other person likes to keep the room on the chilly side and sleep under a pile of blankets."

"They might be able to work it out. They could put a small space heater on one side of the bed and put an extra blanket on the other person's side. Or they could alternate."

"They could. So, tell me about yourself. You already know that I played football for a while. I was a cheerleader for a while. I sing in the New Directions, but rarely sing lead. I didn't get the lead in the fall play. I'm not all that confident in my ability to get into NYADA. My choir director favors other members over me and always has."

"That's so wrong. Anyway, I'm in our choir, but it's a stool choir unfortunately. We don't participate in the show choir competitions. I have older sister, Marlene, who is married. I'm eight years younger than she is. We get along great though. She lives in Washington, DC now, so I don't get to see her very often anymore. But we still Skype and text. And my best friend is my cousin Janine. She's a senior too. Do you have any brothers or sisters? I didn't really stalk you personally, like follow you around or anything. I just admired you from afar."

Kurt smiled. "Well, you needn't have been so hesitant. I could always use friends. Back when you first saw me, I had none basically. My freshman year was rough and my sophomore year became less so when some of the bullies joined Glee Club and quit bullying me. Junior year was really rough. You already know that I was at Dalton. I transferred there mid-semester in the fall to escape the bullying for a while. As for personal things – my mom died when I was eight. My dad didn't date or remarry for a long time. He and my stepmom, Carole, got married a year ago in November. I got a stepbrother in the deal as well. He also goes to McKinley and is a senior – Finn Hudson."

"The quarterback is your stepbrother?"

Kurt nodded and said, "Yeah."

"What do you mean by bullying?"

Kurt explained how things had been, but didn't mention the kiss or the death threat.

"Oh, wow. That's awful. We have some low-level bullying going on at North Lima, but nothing that bad."

"Do you not get bullied for being gay?"

"I get looks and shunned socially to some extent, but no one has the nerve to say or do anything to me. My dad is the soccer coach and a math teacher at North Lima."

"Fear does change the way people behave, even if it doesn't change their hearts or minds."

"That's true and it's made school a lot easier for me than it has been for you from what you described. No one at North Lima would get away with throwing slushies though. Our principal would put a stop to that because it makes slipping more likely and because it would ruin textbooks and personal property."

"You'd think that all schools would make rules against them. Let's see. My dad owns Hummel Tires and Lube and he's a Congressman. Carole is a nurse. I don't think I mentioned it earlier, but Sam lives with us. His family lived in Lima last year, but his dad got a job in Kentucky right on the border with Cincinnati and they moved. He hated it there and came back in November and moved in with us. He'll graduate this year. His family moved back to Tennessee about a month ago, so he hasn't seen them since then."

"That was nice of your family to let him live with you. When you said he was your best friend, I just assumed that you'd known him since kindergarten or something."

"Nope, just since junior year – about a year and a half I guess."

"Let's see. I'm 18. My birthday is November 11th. What about you?"

"September 9th. Also 18."

"We both have easy to remember birthdays then. 11-11 and 9-9."

"What are your plans for the summer?"

"I haven't made up my mind. I'd like to go to New York already and get used to living there before classes start. Everything is going to be so different. The subway, the bus system, how HUGE the city is, and how far apart everything probably will be. It's not going to be a 10-minute drive to the grocery store. It's going to involve an actual trip that has to be planned. How much can I carry and for how far?"

"Finally someone practical."

Chandler laughed. "That's something I've not been called before."

"I've been looking up places to rent."

"Did you faint?"

"Nearly. I've been working on some drawings to utilize the very, very limited space in the apartments that I might be able to afford."

Chandler's enthusiasm picked up a bit, but not quite to the level at the music store. "I know. It's insane. I still want to go so badly though. Did you apply other places besides NYADA?"

"I did. I haven't said so to anyone else though, so even though I have no idea who you'd tell, please don't."

"My lips are sealed." He motioned across his mouth imitating a zipper being closed. "Why don't you want anyone to know? Most people apply to more than one college."

"Rachel is NYADA or bust."

"Which one is Rachel?"

"She's the one that sang 'Here's to Us' at Regionals."

"Okay. So, she's dead-set on NYADA. Did she not apply other places too?"

"No, she's convinced that getting into NYADA is proof from the universe that she's destined to be on Broadway. I bought into it at first because she was so enthusiastic about it, but they only accept 20 Musical Theatre students a year and that's just not good enough odds for me, especially given how little I've been featured and how anemic my CV was. I applied to some SUNY and CUNY schools, even a couple that aren't in the heart of the City."

"That was a good idea. I applied other places in New York City as well. My parents insisted that I apply to OSU, as well."

"I probably should have, but I didn't. I just don't want to be in Ohio anymore."

"After what you said about how high school has been for you, I can see why you wouldn't. But there are some nice places in Ohio. I've been to a lot of different art museums and the zoo in Toledo and Columbus are nice. I haven't been to the one in Cincinnati yet, but I'd like to go."

"I think we grew up in the same town and have had completely dissimilar experiences. I've not been to any of those places. None of that kind of stuff interests my dad. Maybe if it had, I would have seen a different side of Ohio. He did take me to shows because I'd ask for tickets as gifts and that made his shopping easy."

"I can see that."

"He worked a lot and he could manage to get away for something in the evening that didn't start until after 7:00 or so, but driving out of town to go to a museum that didn't interest him on his only day off was just never something that happened. I can't say that I blame him. If I only got one day off a week, I wouldn't want to spend it at some all-day football thing. He's been a great dad overall. I can't complain."

"We could go some of those places, I mean if any of them interest you."

"Sure."

"Do you mean that or are you just being polite?"

"I mean it – as long as it doesn't cost a small fortune to get in. I'm saving up for New York. Remember?" He shoulder-bumped Chandler, teasingly.

He laughed and lost his footing for a second. "Yeah, me too. Several of the museums are free. It would just be the cost of gas to drive there. We could take my car and split the gas. It would cost a lot less than taking your huge SUV."

"Free is always the best price."

They had made their way nearly around the loop when it started to sprinkle. They took off jogging back to the shelter. They stopped for a second and then jogged out to the Navigator. Kurt unlocked it and they got in.

Chandler took a deep breath. "I'm just going to go big. Before you asked me about going bowling, I had planned a movie marathon. I was going to go to a Redbox and pick up a few movies. Would you be interested in joining me?" He put his hands together in his lap in an attempt to fidget less. "You can pick half of the movies."

Kurt pushed through his initial surprise of being invited over, and said, "Sure. Sounds fun." He pulled out of the park and headed back to the bowling alley.

Chandler tried to cover the shock, but his voice betrayed his efforts. "When you drop me off, you can follow me to the Redbox and we can pick. Sam can come over when he finishes his shift, if you want."

"When we stop, I can text him and ask. I'm not sure what hours he was originally scheduled."


	3. Chapter 3

When they got out at the nearest Redbox, Kurt pulled his phone out to check to see if he had gotten a response from Sam.

"He says he gets off at 6:00. He'll bring pizza and he sent his movie choice."

"Well, maybe you should go first then because he might have chosen the same thing I have."

"Unlikely, but I'll go first." Kurt chose and waited. He showed _The Muppets_ and _British Agent_ to Chandler.

"Okay. I wasn't picking either of those. He showed Kurt _Scooby Doo! Music of the Vampire_ and _Louder than a Bomb_.

"What's _Louder than a Bomb_ about? I've never heard of it."

"It's about a poetry slam contest in Chicago." He started to get really animated talking about it. "I think that is a most amazing skill. I have no idea if the movie is any good, but it sounded interesting when I looked through the new releases on my phone last night on the ride back from the game. And of course, _Scooby Doo!_ is just ridiculous, but usually fun. What's _British Agent_ about?"

"It's an old movie, from the '30s. Historical drama. If you don't like it, we can stop it and I can watch the rest after I get home."

"I take it that _The Muppets_ was Sam's choice?"

"Absolutely. He does impressions and can do most of the Muppet voices."

"Let's get going. It's starting to sprinkle again. I'll text you my address. That way you can still get there if we get separated."

Kurt managed to stay behind him the whole way. He pulled into the driveway of a typical Midwest-style ranch house with a 1-car garage. Kurt followed him inside.

"I'm sure you've seen this same house many times." He offered Kurt a hanger. "You can hang it on the hook on the wall so it can dry." He moved to the center of the room and turned to his left and faced the hallway. "Living room, obviously. To my left you can obviously see the dining area. Behind this wall is the kitchen, at the end of it is the laundry room." He pointed straight ahead. "Down the hall are the three bedrooms and the bathroom, which is the first door on the left. My room is across from it. My parents' bedroom and bathroom is the second door on the left. My sister's old room, now our guest room, is the room past mine on the right. End of tour." He smiled and took a bow. "So, let's watch the movie you picked first." He took it from Kurt and put it in the DVD player and turned the TV on. "Make yourself at home."

Kurt left his boots by the door sat down on the couch. Chandler took his boots down to his room and came right back. He grabbed the remote and sat down as well.

* * *

When Sam got there, they were ready with drinks and they started _The Muppets_. They ate while they watched.

When it finished, Sam said, "I can only watch one more. I have some homework I have to go home and do. I took an extra shift tomorrow."

"Alright then," Chandler said, as he put in the _Scooby Doo!_ movie.

When it finished, Sam used his Shaggy impression and said, "This has been fun, but I gotta split, dudes."

"Ranks ror ra rizza," Chandler said.

"You're welcome," Sam said, as he chuckled at Chandler's attempt at a Scooby impression. He grabbed his coat, put his shoes on, and opened the door. "See ya!" He waved on his way out.

"Do you want to watch the other movie?" Chandler asked.

"Yeah. It sounds interesting."

Chandler got up and put the _Scooby Doo!_ movie in the case and put the last movie in. He sat back down on the sofa, just slightly closer to Kurt than he had been before, but not so close as to be touching anywhere. He pressed play.

A few minutes later, Kurt found his lap full of a beautiful cat. It curled up and made itself right at home. Kurt turned and looked at Chandler with a raised eyebrow.

"That's Queenie. She never comes out when there are people over. I can move her if you want. She's never done that to anyone besides me before."

"She's fine. She's beautiful."

As if she heard and approved of Kurt's description, she nuzzled into him and rubbed her face against his stomach. Kurt slowly moved his hand up and let her smell it. She bumped her head up against his hand.

"She wants you to pet her."

Kurt stroked the top of her head and down her neck to her shoulders. She mewed and nudged him again.

"Just keep doing it."

"What kind of cat is she?"

"Ragdoll."

"That's a breed name?"

"It is. You'll see how they got the name if you ever try to pick her up. She just goes limp."

"Well, her blue eyes are beautiful. And I like her markings. I thought maybe there was some kind of long-haired Siamese breed."

"She does look like a long-haired Siamese."

"She's really sweet."

"She is. I got her right before sophomore year. I had to work all summer to save up enough to get her. I had wanted a dog and a cat forever, but I told you my dad's allergic to dogs. My parents said that I could have a cat if I paid for it. I picked her out right after she was born and once she was weaned, I brought her home. She and I are best pals. I picked her breed because they're known for being really sociable and loyal, kind of like dogs. They're really expensive, but my Queenie was worth every penny. She's always super cuddly with me, but she's really never taken to anyone else."

"Well, I think she's a sweetie. Aren't you, Queenie?" Kurt baby talked her and continued to stroke her fur gently.

They turned their attention back to the movie. Chandler went back just a bit in case they had missed something. He glanced over at Kurt and Queenie several times. About 15 minutes before the end of the movie, the front door opened. Chandler's parents both came in. He paused the DVD.

"Sorry, we'll hang our coats up and let you finish," his mom said. She did a double take. "How did you get Queenie to sit on your friend's lap?"

"I didn't," Chandler said. "Mom, this is Kurt."

"Kurt? Right. It's nice to meet you, Kurt. I'm Sharon."

"It's nice to meet you, too."

"Queenie sat on Kurt's lap all on her own."

"Well, that makes you special, Kurt," Chandler's dad said. "I'm James."

"It's nice to meet you. I'd get up and shake hands, but I'm currently being used as a cat chair."

James smiled. "I've never gotten that cat to do anything besides let me pet her occasionally. She's Chandler's cat through and through. Of course, she'll take bites of chicken and treats from me."

Sharon said, "Sometimes she'll sit on the sofa in between me and Chandler, but never on my lap."

Kurt stroked Queenie's fur. "Maybe Chandler and I wear the same cologne or use the same shampoo or something."

"Who knows?" she said. "We'll let you finish your movie."

The two of them went down the hall.

"The perils of living in a small house," Chandler said. "But we get along, so it's not so bad. My mom is definitely jealous that Queenie is sitting on your lap, though." He reached out ran his hand down Queenie's back and restarted the DVD.

When the movie finished, Kurt spoke quietly and gently to Queenie, "Queenie, sweetie, I have to go home now. The movie is over."

She snuggled in tighter.

Kurt chuckled, which startled her a bit. "I have to go home. It's been lovely holding you and petting you, though. You make me wish I had managed to convince my dad to let me get a cat."

Chandler stood up and picked her up and she went totally limp.

Kurt laughed. "I see what you mean." He stood up.

"There's a roller brush hanging on one of the hooks behind the door, if you want to use it to get any cat fur off."

"Thanks," Kurt said. He found it and used it. He grabbed his jacket off the hanger and put it on. "Do you want me to drop your two movies off when I return mine?"

"Oh, sure. Thanks." He put Queenie down and grabbed the second DVD and put it in the case.

Kurt took both of them. "Thanks for inviting me over. I had a good time." He reached to open the door.

Chandler followed him out onto the sidewalk. "I did too. Bowling and the picnic and the hike were fun too. Goodnight!"

Kurt waved as he pulled out of the driveway.

* * *

"So, Kurt. THE Kurt?" Sharon asked. She had come down the hall and sat down on the sofa while Chandler was outside.

"Yes, Mom. THE Kurt. I told you I ran into him in Between the Sheets on Monday. He texted me last night and invited me to go bowling and out to lunch. He brought his friend Sam and we had a good time. Sam had to leave early to go cover a shift at work, but he came back later this evening. He brought pizza from the place where he works and we watched couple of movies. He had to go home to do homework because he got asked to work extra hours again tomorrow."

"So, after all of your years of crushing on him, how was reality?"

"Better than my imagination. He's funny and smart. I had a really good time. I even confessed to him about my crush on him and he seemed flattered rather than freaked out. We basically spent the whole day together and had a good time."

"Well, good for you. I'm glad you had a good time. If I had known he was here, we could have stayed gone another 20 minutes instead of interrupting the end of your movie."

"It's fine. I'm not upset. It's not like it was an actual date or anything."

"Queenie seems to be awfully smitten with him, snuggling on his lap like that."

"I know. She was being really sweet. He's a really nice guy."

"I think she can tell that you like him."

"Mom!"

"What?"

"Ragdoll cats are supposed to be very emotionally in tune with their owners. You told me that yourself when you were choosing what kind of cat to get. You didn't want one that would be aloof and super independent. You wanted one that would be snuggly and kind of dog-like."

"And she is. She's perfect. And maybe you're right. Maybe she can tell. Who knows? I'm going to go take a shower."

* * *

Sam plopped down on Kurt's bed next to him. "So?"

"So?" Kurt responded.

"Why did you ask me back? Was it going badly? It seemed like you two were getting along fine with I left before lunch."

"We were. We had a great time."

"So, why did you text me to come back then?"

"It was Chandler's idea. Maybe he was using you as a buffer to make me feel less like it was a date? I'm honestly not sure, but it was fine. I had fun. Did you?"

"Yeah. He's funny."

Kurt debated whether to say anything, but then he just decided to go for it. "He's had a crush on me two and a half years."

"No way."

"Yes! He saw me do 'Single Ladies' at the football game sophomore year."

"Well, hot damn! Finally, someone with working eyes."

Kurt shoved him. "If you think I'm hot stuff, you could have asked me out yourself."

Sam batted his eyes at Kurt. "I love you with all that I am, but not like that."

"I know. You being straight is just criminal. It's an absolute injustice."

"Well, I'm pretty sure Brittany feels the same about you being gay, dude."

Kurt laughed. "At least I gave her a chance to persuade me."

"I'll kiss you, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be about as effective as Brittany's efforts." He leaned in towards Kurt and puckered up.

Kurt put his hand up and pushed Sam's face away. "No thanks."

"Just remember, I offered."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I'll remember. Did you get your homework done?"

"Mostly. Will you read my essay and make sure it's okay?"

"Sure."

Sam went back to his room and grabbed his laptop. Kurt read through it, showing Sam where his mistakes were and giving Sam a chance to correct them. He typed in the corrections and saved it.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Sam powered the laptop down and put it on Kurt's dresser. "So tell me more about this crush he has on you."

"First I'll tell you about his most beautiful cat, Queenie. She must weigh close to 15 pounds. She came out and climbed up onto my lap and snuggled me during the last movie." He pulled his phone out and looked the breed up and looked through some images. "There. She looks like that." He turned the phone where Sam could see.

He chuckled. "You're in love with his cat. I can tell."

"Maybe just a little. She's beautiful. So soft and fluffy and she let me pet her and hold her for over an hour. Even Chandler's mom was jealous."

Sam smiled. "Go back to Chandler and his crush on you, not your crush on his cat. You're sounding like Brittany."

"Don't tell Britt, but Queenie is much softer than Lord Tubbington."

Sam smiled and nodded. "My lips are sealed. Now stop changing the subject."

* * *

Kurt's phone buzzed with a text right as he got out of the shower. He picked it up.

-Too late to call?

He called back. "Nope. I just got out of the shower. What's up?"

"Well, I'm just going to be really forward again. You know my audition is this week."

"Mmm hmm."

"Well, it's actually Monday. The part I think I never mentioned was that it's in Chicago. It was supposed to be like a month ago, but there were some issues with the theater being used and they had to be postponed. Anyway, I have a hotel room for tomorrow night and I was just going to leave in time to check in and watch a movie and go to sleep, but I was wondering if you'd like to go with me. We could leave early in the morning and do something cool like go to the Shedd Aquarium or the Museum of Science and Industry. And we could do something else like go shopping after my audition Monday morning."

"It sounds fun. Nationals are in Chicago this year, but if our trip is anything like last year, we won't go see any of the museums or anything. Mr. Schue didn't plan anything for when we were in New York last year. Let me go ask and I'll text you back."

"Sure."

Kurt disconnected the call and texted Carole to find out where she was. He went down to the laundry room to talk to her. He closed the door behind him.

"What did you need to talk to me about?"

"Chandler invited me to go to Chicago with him tomorrow."

"That's sudden."

"I know, but I really want to go. I doubt Mr. Schue will do anything fun while we're there. He didn't plan anything last year when we were in New York City. He just left us on our own most of the time."

"He shouldn't have done that."

Kurt shrugged. "You can add it to the long list of things he shouldn't have done. So, are you willing to call me out of school Monday? You know I'll do my work."

"Where are you going to stay?"

"He already has a hotel room booked. I'm not going to just jump into bed with him if that's what you're thinking."

"Actually, I wasn't. I've been around you long enough to know that's not you. I just wanted to make sure you had a place to stay. And you're 18. You don't need my permission to go somewhere, but I appreciate you asking. I'll tell the school you're not coming. You'll learn more at a museum than you will in school. I'm sure."

Kurt hugged her. "Thank you."

She smiled. "You're welcome, honey. When are you leaving?"

"Early is all he said. I'm going to go call him. I won't say anything to anyone about going. I'm excited." He was bouncing up onto his toes. "He's really nice. I had a good time today."

"I can see the excitement," she teased.

He opened the door and scurried back upstairs. He texted, and then called.

"What time?"

"You can go?"

Kurt had to pull the phone away from his ear because Chandler had gotten so excited. "Yes, but I have to pack and sleep. Tell me what time?"

"Is 6:00 too early?"

"Not if I pack right now and go to sleep. I'll text you my address. I'll be outside waiting for you."

"I'll be there."

Kurt disconnected the call. He walked directly into his closet and grabbed three outfits he loved that he hadn't worn in a while. He grabbed a jacket that went with all of the outfits. He grabbed his Math, Chemistry, and Econ books and put them in the small leather duffle that he had used when he was at Dalton. He folded two of the outfits neatly, added socks, underwear, and pajamas to the duffle. He grabbed his travel toiletries bag and checked it quickly before putting it in the duffle. He zipped the duffle and put it on his dresser. He set his alarm and went to sleep.

* * *

Kurt put his duffle in Chandler's trunk and laid his jacket on top so he'd be more comfortable for the ride. He noticed that Chandler was dressed a little more casually as well. He slid in the front seat, put his small messenger bag on the backseat where he could reach it still, and fastened his seat belt. As soon as it clicked, Chandler backed out and headed for the highway.

"I like that hoodie," Chandler said.

"Thanks. I haven't worn it in a couple of years, but I couldn't bear to get rid of it when I went through my clothes last Thursday. I went to Toledo on Friday and sold off some of the things I'd outgrown either in size or style. The last time I remember wearing it was when Coach Sylvester blasted Madonna songs over the PA all day."

"She did what?"

Kurt told him all about it.

"McKinley is certifiable. Any teacher doing that at North Lima would be fired like that." He snapped his fingers.

"It's definitely crazy. So, tell me about your plans."

"Well, it takes four hours to get there according to my maps app, which should be pretty accurate since it's Sunday morning and there won't be much traffic. The Shedd Aquarium opens at 9:00, which is just about when we should get there since Chicago is on central time. It's pretty pricey to get in. I should have mentioned that."

"It's fine. I looked it up while I was waiting for you. From the pictures I saw, I'm sure it's worth it. I've never been to anything like it."

"Tomorrow, I thought maybe we could go to the Lincoln Park Zoo if we don't want to spend money on tickets to get into another place or we can hit the shops in downtown Chicago."

"Either one could be fun."

"We can decide later. You can look through some of the museums and make an informed choice. When is Nationals?"

"Not until May 12th." He took his phone out and looked at his calendar. "So about seven weeks."

"Are you excited?"

"Yes and no. It will be more fun if we actually work on songs before we go. Nationals last year was really stressful. We went with no preparation. We wrote the songs while we were there. It was ridiculous. So, it was exciting, but super nerve-wracking. I like to feel prepared when I perform, which is rarely the case with New Directions. Mr. Schue just procrastinates ridiculously."

"I don't think I would enjoy being part of that, but I could be wrong."

"Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don't. But without it, I would have been… Honestly, I don't know what I would have done."

"Well, I hope your director gets his act together."

"You and me both."

* * *

Four hours later, they parked in the lot closest to the Shedd Aquarium. Kurt put his satchel in the trunk and kept his camera out and stuck it in his pocket.

"It's huge," Kurt said, as soon as they got to where they could see the whole building.

"It is. Come on." Chandler started walking faster.

Kurt picked up his pace to keep up with him.

They got their tickets, rented a locker to put their coats in, and started through the building. They stopped and looked in every tank in every exhibit. Kurt took a lot of photos. They took selfies together several times as well.

"I need a beluga whale," Chandler said, as they headed down to the lower level after viewing the beluga whales.

"Well, you're going to have to make a lot of money doing whatever it is you end up doing to be able to afford an aquarium large enough to hold a beluga whale."

"Two. I need two so they won't be lonely."

"I think a cylindrical tank full of seahorses would be cool."

"Ooh, that would be cool. A room of penguins to watch?" Chandler said as the stopped in front of the penguin exhibit.

They stood watching them for several minutes.

"That could be fun. But I think that Queenie's perfect. She's so sweet."

"That's true. And she doesn't need a billion gallons of water to live in."

Kurt laughed. "Your water bill will be much more manageable."

"Very true. Maybe someday I can afford one of those cool saltwater tanks like some businesses have."

"Now, that might be doable." Kurt couldn't believe how much fun he was having. It was definitely unusual to spend time with someone so free and open. He could feel the draw of getting closer to Chandler. He just felt lighter around him. He decided to take a chance. He reached out and took Chandler's hand and pulled him along. "Let's go look at the belugas from underwater.

Chandler looked down at his hand, but followed along without trying to put too much through into how Kurt was holding his hand. When they got to the underwater viewing area, Chandler expected Kurt to let go of his hand, but he didn't. They made their way around the whole area and Kurt hadn't let go. Chandler allowed himself to relax and enjoy the physical contact. When they got to the other side, they watched the otters.

"Maybe I've changed my mind," Kurt said. "Maybe I need some otters instead of the seahorses."

"They're adorable, but I bet they're sneaky and tricky and hard to keep in an enclosure. They have those cute little faces that make everyone think they're innocent when really they're just little sneaks."

"That could very well be true, but they're still adorable."

They moved on to the sea star touching exhibit. Kurt let go of Chandler's hand so he could touch the sea stars. Once they washed their hands, Kurt reached for Chandler again.

"Let's look in the café. We looked in the other place to eat upstairs. Let's pick and get some lunch. We left six hours ago."

Chandler just went with it. They looked at the menu options and then toured the part of the restaurant that had viewing windows into the underwater dolphin area.

"So, what do you think?" Kurt asked.

"You pick. I picked the place to visit. You can pick lunch. I've already chosen our dinner venue."

"Well, then I pick the place upstairs. The menu in here reminds me of the kiddie section in the frozen food aisle in the grocery store."

Chandler laughed. "You're right. It does."

* * *

They spent the last ten minutes of their time at the aquarium in the gift shop. They walked around together, still holding hands. Kurt stopped and looked at the jewelry. He decided that he wanted to get something to remind him of the first really crazy thing he had done on his own – driving out of state to spend a couple of days with a guy that had a crush on him.

His eyes landed on a burnished stainless seahorse lapel pin. He picked it up and looked at it carefully. He kept it and they moved on. Chandler picked up a deep ocean blue coffee mug that had a beluga whale painted to make it look like it had turned to look at the person holding the mug. It was a little on the silly side, but it had a realistic feel to it as well.

Chandler said, "I've found what I'm getting. It's on the pricey side, but I love coffee and I don't have any mugs that are actually mine. I just use the ones that match our plates at home. This one will be fun to take to New York."

They got in line and paid. Kurt fastened the pin to his jacket lapel before they left. He retook Chandler's hand afterwards and they headed back outside, but not immediately towards the parking area. They turned left when they got outside and walked over to look at the fountain before they headed back the other way to the sidewalk that led around the building along the edge of Lake Michigan.

They walked along in silence for a few minutes taking in the waves, the sun, and the breeze, which was quite strong at times, altering their footing here and there as they walked slowly along the path. Light reflected off the water as the waves rolled in.

Kurt had enjoyed the day with Chandler immensely. His enthusiasm really had been contagious, infecting Kurt within minutes of getting in the car with him that morning. They talked the whole 4-hour drive, minus the time they spent singing. It was the most fun Kurt had ever had on a long drive. The aquarium was the most amazing place he had ever been. There was no sense of proper decorum required, no absolute need to behave like 50-year-old acquaintances viewing barely-interesting exhibits. Chandler enjoyed living, which was something Kurt had lost over the last few years. Spending time with him revitalized Kurt in ways he didn't know he craved.

While walking along, looking out across the water and watching the boats, Kurt thought about the question he had pondered before asking Chandler to go bowling. His English teacher had asked them whether they would prefer a partner who they loved, but did not love them back or one that loved them that they didn't love? So far his experience had been in the former category with Chandler being the first of the latter type.

He reconsidered that. Dave had fallen into the second category as well with his Valentine's Day role as Kurt's Secret Admirer, but try as he might, he couldn't see Dave in any role beyond potential friend, which he was still working on. He realized how much easier that goal would be now that Blaine was out of the picture. He mentally added calling Dave to his to-do list for when he returned to Lima.

Kurt refocused his thoughts back towards Chandler. When he asked him to go bowling, it was to see whether he liked Chandler enough to even consider dating him or whether he'd just pursue friendship with him since going to New York and knowing someone else would be a good idea. He had thoroughly enjoyed Saturday with Chandler, who had obviously had the same feeling about it since he had reciprocated so quickly by asking Kurt to come to Chicago with him. Now, they were walking along the lake, holding hands and watching the boats as they floated along the water.

His mind wandered and his thoughts raced. He had taken his hand earlier to see if he felt anything from physical contact with him. He had every intention of letting go as soon as they got to the belugas if he felt nothing, but there was a spark, a flare of excitement as their hands connected. The spark zipped through him all throughout the day. It was exciting to know that his attention would be relished and treasured, rather than expected and that his physical affection wouldn't be rejected in public.

When they made it around to where the sidewalk connected to the patio, they went and sat down at one of the tables, still holding hands, and faced the lake. Kurt scooted closer to Chandler after they had sat down. He debated his next move, but decided to be bold yet again. While continuing to hold Chandler's hand, Kurt reached up and over Chandler's head and wrapped his arm around his shoulders, leaving Chandler's arm across his own chest. The movement surprised Chandler, who turned to look at Kurt with wide eyes and a genuinely amazed smile. He snuggled into Kurt's side.

"Thank you for inviting me to come with you. The aquarium was amazing and I had a lot of fun."

"Me too. I'm glad you came."

Kurt took a deep breath and bravely asked, "Can I kiss you?"

Chandler's eyes flashed with incredulity. He nodded.

"You're sure?"

"Definitely."

They both leaned in and pressed their lips together softly. Kurt pulled back and opened his eyes and looked into Chandler's eyes to make sure he was okay with what was happening. When he saw that he was, he leaned back in and they kissed several more times before Kurt pulled back again.

"Wow," Chandler let slip.

Kurt smiled. "I agree." Kurt's heart was racing and he was surprised by his own desire. He leaned back in and kissed him again – this time with a little more heat behind the kisses. He reined it in before they pushed past chaste kissing. They were in a more open-minded place, but they were pretty secluded and Kurt didn't want to incite anyone with their PDA. "Do you have other plans for this afternoon?"

"Actually, I do. I really want to get a pair of non-black Doc Martens, but I've been holding off so I could see the colors in person. I hate paying return shipping because boots are so heavy. There's an actual Doc Martens store not that far from here."

"Sounds fun." He leaned towards him and kissed him quickly before he let go of Chandler's hand so they could stand up more easily. As soon as they were both up, he took his hand again.

They walked the rest of the way around the building and over to the parking lot. When they got in the car, Chandler pulled the directions up on his phone and Kurt navigated them to the store just like he had done on the drive over.

* * *

"When I looked online, I was really considering the dark red, but seeing the boots in person, I'm not sure."

"What color pants do you wear most often?"

"Blue jeans, in all washes. Pants from cement to khaki to brown and all different shades of gray from pale to very dark."

"Do you wear that blue jacket a lot?"

"A lot of the time, but I also have some other jackets that are dark blue. It's one of my favorite colors. I also love burgundy and I have quite a bit of that in my wardrobe. That's what made me lean towards the dark red."

"How about the navy Docs? They're not as flashy, but if they go with most of your clothes, they might be a better choice."

Chandler got the clerk to bring out the navy and dark red ones in his size. He turned to Kurt. "I like your white ones a lot, but I don't wear a lot of white."

Kurt looked through the display and pointed. "I have these. And these. I had these in yellow, but I sold them and bought these brown ones with the green accents – like these, but brown. I have the knee-high zip and lace-up styles too. I haven't worn them in a while, but I think it's time for them to make a come back."

"I just have black ones right now. I had some others, but they got too small the last time I grew."

The clerk came back and Chandler tried the navy pair on she brought out. He walked around and looked in the mirrors as he walked past them. His cheeks were flushed still from the excitement of kissing Kurt _. I kissed Kurt_ , he thought. _Kurt kissed me!_ He took a few controlled breaths and walked back to where Kurt was standing.

"They look nice. Do you like them?"

"I do. I think I'm going to go ahead and try the dark red ones before I make my mind up, though. I just want to be sure since I had come here thinking those would be the ones I'd choose."

He sat down and put on one dark red one and got back up. He turned and compared the two in the mirror. He took his jacket off and turned both ways again. "I guess I might have a couple of pairs of dark wash jeans that might not look great with them, but I could wear my black pair or a pair of my dressier boots with those. I do like the navy a lot." 

He sat back down and put the other navy boot back on. He walked around a little more. He told the clerk his choice and she took the blue pair to the register. He also bought a new can of leather protector and a new set of laces for his black boots. 

He put the bag in the trunk and Kurt resumed his position as navigator on the way to the hotel.


	4. Chapter 4

Chandler opened the door to the hotel room and let Kurt walk through first. He put his duffle and satchel on the far end of the top of the dresser. Chandler leaned his guitar case against the closer end of the dresser and put his small wheeled suitcase on top.

Kurt hung Chandler's garment bag on the rod behind the door, and then went in the bathroom and freshened up a bit. When he came out of the bathroom, Chandler took his new Docs into the bathroom to let them finish drying. He turned the vent on to pull the smell out of the room and closed the door behind him.

When Chandler came back out, Kurt asked him, "Should I change for dinner?"

Chandler shook his head. "No, it's not somewhere fancy. You look great like you are."

Kurt blushed. He was so unused to being so freely complimented. "Thanks. Then, I'm ready whenever you are."

* * *

Chandler was the one to reach out for Kurt's hand when they stepped out into the hotel hallway. They took the elevator back down and walked down a couple of blocks to a pizzeria.

Kurt slid in next to Chandler in the booth they were seated at, which surprised him, but he just scooted in a little more to make room for Kurt.

"So, I read up on this place and the slices are huge, as in one slice is a meal."

"Got it. The pricing makes more sense now."

When the waiter came to take their order they were ready. Kurt ordered spinach, mushroom, and slice roma tomatoes with three cheeses. Chandler went with a traditional Chicago slice of sausage, green pepper, and onion. The waiter took the menus and came back about a couple of minutes later with their drinks.

When he walked away, Kurt took Chandler's hand again and interlaced their fingers and laid their hands on his thigh.

Chandler took a drink and pushed his glass back. He bit his upper lip and let it slip back through his teeth.

"Is something bothering you?"

"I'm just wondering what the handholding and kissing means. Do you want to date?"

"I do. Do you not?"

"Oh, I do. I definitely do. I just … I've never dated before."

Kurt squeezed his hand gently. "I'd like to be your boyfriend, if you'll have me."

"Boyfriend?" Chandler's expression was a mix of excitement and confusion.

"Boyfriend, as in we date exclusively."

"Sorry. I think my brain froze there for a minute. I definitely want to be your boyfriend." He smiled brightly and became much more animated again. "I sort of, might have, dreamed about you asking me that lots of times."

Kurt blushed.

"Have you dated other people?"

"Two people. I dated one of the Cheerios for few days when I was going through a phase of trying to be the son I thought my dad would want."

"I thought your dad was supportive."

"He was. He is. It's a long story. I'll tell you sometime. And I've had a boyfriend before."

"Were you serious?"

"I thought we were. Some things happened that caused me not to trust him. I lost my self-respect for a while and stayed with him long past the point that I should have. A relationship can't last if it's not built on trust."

"That's true. You're over him, though, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay. I don't want to be a rebound and set myself up for heartbreak. I know there's no guarantee that we'll work out, but I respect myself too much to go into this if you're still hung up on someone else."

"I'm not. He does go to McKinley, but there's no chance for reconciliation. That ship has sailed."

"Alright. This is where the trust starts. I trust that you're telling me the truth."

Kurt nodded. "Why don't you get your phone out and tell me the dates of your baseball games? I'll put them in my phone and see which ones I can make it to."

"You're going to come watch me play?"

"Will that make you too nervous to focus?"

"No, it will be exciting. I didn't even consider that you'd come watch. You said you're not that into sports."

"But it's important to you. And you're important to me."

Chandler's face flushed again. He ignored it and got his phone out. Kurt had just finished putting the dates and times in when the waiter brought out their pizza slices. They thanked him.

"You weren't kidding about the size. This is like a 3-inch deep pie slice." He took a bite. "Oh, wow. That's really good. I think there's half a pound of cheese in my slice. Try some." He cut another bite of his and offered it to Chandler.

He looked at Kurt.

"We've already kissed. I'm pretty sure that if I have cooties, you've already caught them from me."

Chandler laughed. "Good point." He opened his mouth. "That is really good." He cut a bite of his and fed it to Kurt.

"Ooh, I like that too."

They ended up cutting their slices in half and sharing.

* * *

"What time do you have to be there in the morning?"

"At 8:00. The paperwork said that I'd be done by 10:00. I have no idea why it could possibly take that long, but I'll find out tomorrow."

"I'll sit out in the lobby and get some reading done."

Chandler opened their hotel room door and let Kurt step inside. He flipped the extra door lock after they were inside. "You shower at night, right?"

"Mmm hmm."

"You can go first. I need to check my clothes to see if they need ironed. Let me grab my boots out of there first, though." He grabbed them and put them on the dresser next to his bag. "I wanted to spray them before I wear them tomorrow. We're supposed to just dress normal, not in suits or anything. So, I was thinking of this." He opened the garment bag and pulled out an outfit – a pair of deep gray, slim-fit trousers, a medium gray, long-sleeved button up with a small navy fleur-de-lis pattern, and a deep navy vest that had burnished silver buttons.

Kurt looked the outfit over.

"I'm glad I went with the navy boots. I still might get the dark red ones at some point, maybe in the fall. I definitely have more fall clothes that are burgundy. I had brought my gray leather lace-up dress boots to wear with this, but I think I like the edginess of the Docs."

"I think that looks really good. It's in between dressy and casual. The vest is has a more modern cut than a vest for a suit. The patterned shirt makes it somewhat dressy. The lack of tie makes it more casual. And the Docs give it a bit of an edgy feel, like you said. I think that combination will look great on you." He stepped closer and kissed Chandler, who startled a bit. "Too much, too soon?"

"What? No. Just getting used to the idea that you like me enough to kiss me." He leaned back in and kissed Kurt. "But don't stop. Kissing is definitely as amazing as it's hyped up to be."

Kurt smiled and put his hands on Chandler's waist. "Is that so?" He asked coyly. He took a half-step closer and they kissed for a couple of minutes, still not moving past chaste kisses. "I better get in the shower. I don't want to keep you up late. You need your rest for your audition tomorrow." He picked up what he had gotten out to get ready for bed and took it in the bathroom.

Once he was in the shower, he began to replay the day in his mind. He couldn't remember the last time he had had so much carefree fun. Being in New York City the previous year came close, but the constant stress of not being ready to compete overshadowed it a bit. Singing with Rachel on the _Wicked_ stage had been amazing. _I could have so much fun New York with Chandler._ Kurt was sure that Chandler would go anywhere and try anything just for the fun of it. He refocused and finished so that Chandler could shower too.

While Kurt was in the shower, Chandler got his guitar out and began to play. His thoughts wandered as he closed his eyes and played pieces he knew so well he didn't have to think about what his hands were doing. _Kurt kissed me and asked me to be his boyfriend._ He felt like he was dreaming. He opened his eyes when Kurt came out of the bathroom. _Not a dream, but Kurt is definitely dreamy_ , he thought when he saw Kurt in his pajamas with wet hair.

"Will you sing for me when you come back out?" Kurt asked. "I'd like to hear what you're going to perform tomorrow."

Chandler nodded and smiled. "Sure. Let me go shower really quick." He grabbed his stuff and went into the bathroom.

While he was gone, Kurt did his moisturizing routine using the mirror on the dresser. Chandler came back out about ten minutes later, looking completely hot in a singlet and a pair of cotton mid-thigh length shorts that didn't leave a lot to Kurt's imagination. When Chandler saw him staring, he reached for his hoodie.

"You don't need to put the hoodie on, unless you want to. I'll stop staring. At least, I'll do it more discretely." He winked at Chandler, who blushed.

"I, um, don't really have pajamas. I usually just sleep in my underwear. I wear these shorts to exercise in at home. I use a robe at home. I didn't think to pack it. I had already packed when I asked you. I packed the shorts in case of a fire."

Kurt smiled. He wiggled his eyebrows, licked his lower lip, and bit it before letting it slip free. "I have quite a few pairs of these '60s pajamas. I have one satin set that I wear to the girls' sleepovers, but I got all of the cotton ones I have at Goodwill. I live with two other teen boys that I go to school with, who have people over frequently – many of whom would love to catch me not looking my best and then torment me with the photos. Even if some of them would only do it good-naturedly, I always wear full-coverage pajamas. I didn't use to, you know, before my dad married Carole. It's for self-preservation reasons, not really a desire to sleep fully dressed." Kurt's reactions were making him realize a lot of things about himself. Knowing that he was desired was a huge turn on and Chandler was hot under all of those clothes. His main revelation was that jocks were definitely his type. Chandler might be his height and weight, but he had some nice muscles. Kurt noticed his very shapely calf muscles. As his eyes trailed up, he could see a very nice backside. He could see the muscle definition in his back through the singlet and he definitely had some well-defined arms, which were very fine to look at.

"You're still staring," Chandler teased when he turned around from putting some stuff in his small suitcase.

"Right." Kurt looked up from where he was staring at Chandler's arm and looked him in the eyes. "I said I'd try to be more discrete about it," Kurt teased. "But God, you’re gorgeous."

"Well, that's good to know," Chandler said, blushing again. "The feeling is mutual." He winked at Kurt. "Do you still want me to sing for you?"

"Yes, of course. I'll behave. I really want to hear what you're going to sing."

Chandler sat down on the bed and pulled his guitar back out. "Okay. So, the guidelines said to present two musical theatre pieces sung in their original key, which I already told you my choices for that part. The second part is to present something that is personal and shows something about me that I want to share to help the panel learn more about me beyond facts like my vocal range, my grades, and my activities. I had a song picked out originally, but then when the audition got delayed, I sort of waivered on my choice. That's why I was back at Between the Sheets on Monday. I ended up creating this medley of five songs that evening after we met. Talking to you reignited my own excitement about going to New York. It made me think harder about what I wanted to do for my audition. I want to stand out and not just sing another musical theatre standard." He started to strum and then began to sing.

_Hey, hey, hey_  
_No matter how life is today,_  
_There's just one thing I got to say._  
_I won't let another moment slip away._

_Don't expect a free ride from no one._  
_Don't hold a grudge or a chip and here's why._  
_Bitterness keeps you from flying._

_Always stay humble and kind._  
_The glow that the sun gives right around sunset_  
_Helps me realize,_  
_This is just a journey. Drop your worries._  
_You're gonna turn out fine._  
_Oh, you'll turn out fine._

_When the dreams you're dreamin' come to you,_  
_When the work you put in is realized,_  
_Reminding you that everything is possible._  
_Yeah, reminding me that nothing is impossible._  
_You gotta live for the one that you love, you know._  
_You gotta love for the life that you live, you know._

_I know sometimes it's hard to remember,  
But you gotta keep your head up, oh, oh.  
You can let your hair down, eh, eh, eh, eh._

_I won't back down. No, I won't back down._  
_You can stand me up at the gates of hell,_  
_But I won't back down._  
_Going to stand my ground, won't be turned around._  
_And I'll keep this world from dragging me down._

_I've got my hands in my pocket, kickin' these rocks.  
It's kinda hard to watch this life go by.  
I'm buyin' into the skeptics.  
Skeptics mess with the confidence in my eyes._

_Going to stand my ground and I won't back down._  
_Well, I know what's right. I got just one life,_  
_In a world that keeps on pushing me around._  
_But I stand my ground and I won't back down._

_When you get where you goin',_  
_Don't forget to turn back around._  
_Help the next one in line._

_I am not afraid to take a stand.  
Everybody, come take my hand.  
Come. We'll walk this road together, through the storm.  
Whatever weather, you know that, you're not alone._

_You gotta live for the one that you love, you know._  
_You gotta love for the life that you live, you know._

When he finished, he put the guitar back in its case.

"That was really good. I hadn't heard a couple of those before. I liked the mix of slower and upbeat parts. You made them all sound like a cohesive piece."

"Thanks. I'm nervous, but excited. Have you decided on your song?"

"I have, but I'm still keeping it a secret. You'll have to come watch. I can let you in through the doors that lead outside so you don't have to try to go through the halls. I'll sneak you up into one of the tiny balcony box areas. The middle of the auditorium would be a better place to watch from, but I'm definitely not interested in explaining why a non-McKinley student is in the auditorium."

"I can't believe that you get to audition at your own school. That's so weird." He closed the guitar case, got up, and leaned it against the end of the dresser. He turned off all of the lights besides the one between the beds.

"Ready to sleep?" Kurt asked.

"Ready to try, anyway." He pulled the covers back, stacked both pillows together against the headboard, and got in the bed. He leaned back against the pillows and pulled the covers up. "I'm really glad you came."

Kurt was still sitting on the side of his bed where he had been while Chandler was singing. "Me too. I've had a great day. And yesterday was fun too." He stood up and pulled the covers back on his bed. Before he got in, he turned back and looked at Chandler. He sat down on the edge of Chandler's bed. He reached out and took his hand. "Can I kiss you good night?"

He smiled and nodded.

Kurt scooted up in the bed a bit. He reached out and put his hand along Chandler's jaw, causing Chandler to inhale slightly raggedly at the contact. He leaned into it, closed his eyes, and sighed quietly. Kurt scooted a little closer and Chandler opened his eyes again. They sat staring at each other.

"You have the darkest blue eyes I've ever seen. They're really beautiful."

"I've never seen eyes like yours that seem to change color all the time. They're mesmerizing."

"We are getting very sappy and obviously need to sleep." He leaned in to kiss him. Kurt kept himself in check, not pushing, knowing that all of it was new to Chandler. He wanted to savor every part of their new relationship. He ran his thumb along Chandler's jaw and kissed him once more and pulled back. "I could do that for a very, very long time and enjoy every second of it, but you need to rest. I won't be the cause of you not doing well." He stood part of the way up and kissed Chandler on the forehead. He turned the light off and got in his own bed.

* * *

"Mr. Kiehl, we've had a lot of different interpretations of the second part of the audition. Mash-ups, original music, re-interpretations of classics, etc. But I can't think of a time when someone basically made a vocal quilt to present to us. What led you to create a song out of five different songs? You pieced together an acoustic piece from songs originally sung by men and women, different styles and genres of music, with different original tempos, but you managed to bring them all together to have a unified feeling. Tell us about the process."

"Well, you're analogy of a quilt is good. Sometimes when you see the individual fabric pieces by themselves, you can't imagine them looking good together. But I think people are like that too. We all have different sides, loud, gentle, angry, joyful, sad, happy, mean, kind – all in a unique combination. Sometimes the person that everyone sees as happy-go-lucky is also depressed, but channels everything into making other people's lives better. We have to work to temper our less desirable parts and hone our strengths. The songs were all different, like you said, but each of those songs speaks to me about being myself, but not to the point of self-centeredly focusing on myself all the time. Sometimes we work so hard to be the best that we can be forget to just BE. We live each day and we can't get it back. If we constantly live looking to the future, we have nothing to look back on because we never did anything to enjoy the days we had. I want to feel like it's okay to be confident in my skills and myself today, while remembering that I'm not everything I could be yet. There's this balance between longing and disappointment. The here-and-now is in the middle, between the two. I want to live my life to the fullest, be present in my own life, and share my life with people who love and respect me for who I am now, which is imperfect, but full of love for life and people. I want to be that person that looks back at the end and knows that I did actually live my life and that I helped other people live too. Struggling is part of life, but I don't want to spend mine fighting my self-doubt. I can be confident, yet kind. I can stand up and be strong and hold my ground while being gentle. I can be there for other people without losing myself. I can never be the best at everything, but I can try to be the best version of myself every day and live joyfully now. I don't have to wait until I become something that I'm not yet to allow myself to enjoy my life."

"You make a lot of good points. Thank you for coming in today. You'll hear back from us the end of the first week in April."

* * *

Chandler came bounding across the room, leaned his guitar against the wall, and plopped down next to Kurt on the bench he was sitting on.

"You're cheerful. How did it go?"

"I did my best. I'll hear back by the end of next week. Are you ready to go to the zoo?"

"I am." He stood up and stretched.

Chandler stood up and caught him off-guard by hugging him. He wrapped his arms around him tight and spun Kurt in a circle and sat him back on his feet.

Kurt started laughing. "You're going to break your back. We're the same size."

"Ten seconds won't break my back. Let's go. Adventure awaits." He picked his guitar case up and offered his other hand to Kurt.

Kurt took it and interlaced their fingers. He picked up his satchel and books. "Take me on an adventure."

"It will be my pleasure." He opened the door and Kurt followed him through. "Wow, it's bright. It's perfect. It's warmer today. A perfect day for a zoo adventure."

Kurt put his books in his bag in the trunk and grabbed his camera out of his satchel before leaving it in the trunk. Chandler unlocked the doors with his remote and they got in.

"So, did you manage to record yourself?" Kurt asked as he fastened his seatbelt.

"I did. Do you want to listen to it? You've already heard the medley."

"I do, if you don't mind."

"Not at all." He pulled his phone out of his vest pocket and handed it to Kurt before he pulled out.

* * *

About 20 minutes later, they arrived at the zoo. On their way in, they stopped and picked up a map.

"So, clockwise or counterclockwise?" Kurt asked.

"Let's go counterclockwise. We can stop for lunch when we get here," he pointed to a café on the map. "And then we can go see the rest of the animals after that. We need to leave around 4:00, since we'll lose an hour on the drive back and we'll want to stop to eat again at some point. I know you have schoolwork to do when you get home because you said that you work tomorrow afternoon, so you won't have time to do extra schoolwork then."

"You're right. So, counterclockwise it is." He took Chandler's hand. "Will you ride the carousel with me? I've never ridden one before. Well, not a cool one like this. I went to the county fair when I was little."

"Sure."

While they rode, Chandler watched Kurt more than he paid attention to the ride. He saw a wide-open genuine smile on Kurt's face and a look of relaxed happiness that he had seen at the aquarium. He decided that happy was a great look on Kurt. He managed to get a picture of him while riding around. Before they exited, they took a selfie standing next to the egret Kurt had been riding on.

They walked through the primates and ape areas first. Afterwards, they stopped several places around the loop to watch the camels, zebras, and kangaroos.

"I've seen videos of those guys," Chandler said, looking at the kangaroos. "They look cute, but they are seriously tough. It would be really interesting to see them all the time just wandering around the way we see deer and foxes."

"It would. Some day, if I ever have the money, I want to tour the world. I want to see so many different places."

"Me too. I'm curious by nature, and I would just love to see so many things that I've seen in photos and videos. Do you want to walk all the way over to the farm animals?"

"Not unless you really want to. I've seen plenty of farm animals before."

"Me too."

"Let's go sit by the lake and watch the swans, flamingos and whatever other birds are there."

They sat down on a picnic table with their backs to the table, facing towards the large pond. Chandler looked around and didn't see anyone paying attention to them. There wasn't much of a crowd to start with. It was warm for a late March day, but still chilly enough to keep most people with preschoolers from visiting the zoo yet.

"Is everything okay?" Kurt asked.

"Mmm hmm. I'm just not quite sure what's okay and what's not."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, yesterday you put your arm around my shoulders."

"Yeah?"

"Can I?"

"Sure. We're not a heterosexual couple with society-engrained roles. Just because I initiated things yesterday doesn't make me the 'guy' and you the 'girl'. There is no girl. The only thing I can foresee needing to be worked out would be slow dancing. We're the same height, so I guess we can just try different hand positions until we're comfortable."

Chandler pulled his arm up from between them and put it around Kurt's back and squeezed him in a side hug. "That makes sense. I'll stop being so hesitant. If I ever do anything you don't want me to, you can just tell me and I'll just stop."

"Sounds perfect. We can discuss our views on PDA, if you want."

"Well, I like holding hands a lot more than I had ever considered that I would. I wouldn't want to make out in public, even if we were in a place that was all gay guys. I'm outgoing, but I'm also really private."

"Me too."

"But right here, right now, when no one is around, I'd enjoy kissing a little."

"Just a little?" Kurt teased.

"That came out wrong. I'd enjoy a little kissing a lot."

"Then, kiss me." Kurt turned to face him.

They kissed softly a few times.

"I really like kissing," Chandler said. He bit his lower lip, but it slipped free as he began to grin.

"Me too. You're very kissable." Kurt leaned in a kissed him again.

"That's good to know," he teased. "All the better for me since you'll want to kiss me."

"I liked what you told the interviewer. That was really powerful. I think you did a great job."

"Thanks."

They sat for a few more minutes watching the birds before they got up to go see more of the animals. They enjoyed watching the seals before they went into the children's zoo area and saw the otters, wolves, and bears. They stopped and got Chicago-style hot dogs for lunch.

The afternoon was filled with excitement seeing so many animals and trading secret kisses in the dark and empty places in the buildings they walked through.

* * *

They pulled up to Kurt's at almost 9:00. Kurt didn't get out of the car right away. He looked in the driveway and didn't see Finn's truck or Sam's either.

"I'd like to introduce you to Carole. She's the only one home right now."

Chandler took a deep breath. "No time like the present, right?"

Kurt turned towards him and put his hand on the side of his face to turn it. "She'll like you." He kissed him. "What's not to like?"

"Sure." He kissed Kurt again before opening his door. He opened the trunk so Kurt could pull his stuff out.

Kurt unlocked the front door and Chandler followed him inside. Carole was sitting on the sofa reading.

"Hey, honey," she said, as he stepped in from the entryway.

They both stepped in where they could see her.

"I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Chandler."

"It's nice to meet you. Feel free to call me Carole. All of the kids do."

Chandler smiled and nodded. "It's nice to meet you too."

"We're going to go upstairs for a few minutes. He's not staying long. I have math problems to do still."

"Alright. Your dad's going to be home Thursday before dinner. Why don't you see if Chandler can come?"

"He has a baseball game Thursday that I was going to go to."

"Well, your dad loves baseball. Maybe we can all come watch and go out for pizza or Chinese afterwards."

"We'll work on it," Kurt said.

"Sure, honey."

* * *

Kurt opened the door to his room. He put his duffle down on his dresser after he closed the door. "This is it – my room."

"It's really nice. Much bigger than mine. I have a twin bed. Yours is also really classy. I still have the stuff I picked out when I started junior high."

"Well, other than the vanity, this stuff is what we got when we moved here a year ago in December. I had previously gone with a very modern look, Dior gray and white. I had a white sofa bed. When we moved, I got this regular bed. My dad didn't want to repaint the rooms. So, I went with the burgundy and earth tones to go with the walls. I like how it came out."

He stepped closer to Kurt. "I had fun this weekend." He wrapped his hand behind Kurt's neck and kissed him. He pressed in, more self-assured than before.

Kurt kissed back just as boldly. He wrapped his arms around Chandler's back. He parted his lips slightly and just barely licked Chandler's lower lip before pulling back and kissing along his jaw towards his ear.

Chandler moaned and tilted his head giving Kurt more room.

Kurt kissed down his neck and put his forehead on Chandler's shoulder so he could his breath. "I had a great time." He stepped back. "I'd like to keep doing that, but I have homework. We'll talk tomorrow and make arrangements to see each other before your game on Thursday."

"You didn't seem thrilled about your parents coming to the game."

"You just have to be prepared that my dad is a little rough around the edges, but he's a really great dad."

"We'll be fine." He gave Kurt another quick kiss. "Walk me out?"

"Of course."

* * *

He went back inside and plopped in the chair across from Carole.

She looked up and smirked and winked at him. "Boyfriend, hmm?"

"Yes. Boyfriend. I asked him yesterday. He's really sweet and I like him a lot. And I know there's supposed to be some period of mourning period or anger after a break-up, but I'm really just not feeling that. I'm feeling free and happy. I told you how things had been going. I had let the old me slip away. The last three days I've been myself more than I have in months, maybe since before I went to Dalton."

"It's your life, but you're going to need to tell your dad that you broke up with Blaine and that you have a new boyfriend already." She chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah. Fun times for me," he said sarcastically. "Dad acts like I'm a 12-year-old girl. I'm 18. I'll tell him and invite him to the game, but you have to promise me that you're going to work your magic on him to get him to behave like he would if it were Finn that had a different girlfriend three days after breaking up with someone. It's not like that hasn't happened. It's happened twice this school year I believe or maybe that was last year. It might have been more than three days, but not much. I've lost count."

"Got it. I'll remind him of the revolving-door-dating that is Finn's flip-flopping between Rachel and Quinn."

"Thank you. I'm going to go do math problems and call Dad. You can call him in about half an hour."

* * *

Kurt called Burt and told him the truth about his relationship with Blaine.

"So from what you just explained, you're telling me it's his advice that led you to be reckless and follow that Karofsky kid into the locker room. And if that wasn't bad enough, he came to McKinley to supposedly help you and smarted off to him in an open stairwell, where he could have been outed just as easily as Finn outed Santana last fall? Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not condoning Dave's actions, but I'm really disappointed in yours."

"Me too. I figured it out after I was at Dalton. Up until then, I was on edge so much of the time that I hadn't taken the time to analyze the situation. But afterwards, I realized that Dave upped the bullying right after that. I get it now. He was afraid that his mom would disown him and send him to conversion therapy. Anyway, I'm disappointed in my actions in that confrontation. It's one of those 'If I had just known…' situations."

"Yeah. So where was I…? Blaine led you on, sang an inappropriate song, outed a guy, and got him fired?"

"Something else I'm ashamed of having been a part of."

"There's a lot of other stuff I didn't like in what you said, especially the part about Scandals. That was criminal. But tell me about this new guy."

Kurt gave Burt the Cliff Notes version of the previous four days and what he had done during the day.

"So, Carole let you go to Chicago with a boy?"

"Not a boy, Dad. He's 18, like me. We're adults, not children."

"And you stayed in a hotel with this guy?"

"I did. In my own bed."

"And now he's your boyfriend."

"He is. I think you've got the whole story straight. I had a great time. He's fun and I like him."

"I gotta go. Carole's calling. I love you, Kiddo. I'll see you and your new boyfriend Thursday. We’ll talk more then."

"Love you too, Dad."

* * *

Chandler took his bag and guitar to his room and plopped on his bed. Queenie made her way up onto his chest. His mom knocked on the open door.

"Come on in."

She sat in his desk chair. "You look very happy. Did your audition go well?"

"I think so." He ran his hand down Queenie's back several times. "Kurt kissed me and asked me to be his boyfriend."

"That's what the smile is from." She raised an eyebrow, teasingly.

"It is. I really like him. And kissing is nice."

She smiled at him. "It is. Oh, I asked off an hour early for Thursday so we can both go to your game."

"I recorded my audition, if you want to hear it."

"Of course I do."

* * *

Kurt texted Chandler after he finished his homework.

—Thursday's on.

—My parents are coming too.

—I'll text you tomorrow to make plans for Wednesday after school.

—:D


	5. Chapter 5

Tuesday, Kurt turned in all of the assignments he had completed for the three days he had missed. He went to Glee Club for their lunch meeting.

“Kurt, it’s good to have you back. I hope you’re feeling better.”

“I’m great. Thanks.”

“Do you have a Whitney song you want to share with us since you missed your chance last week?”

Kurt got up and walked down to the piano. “This song comes close to describing how things have been for me since junior high, with the darkest hour actually occurring several different times over the last six years, but I’ve picked myself back up each time. I’ve come to realize that I am much stronger than I thought.”

…

_I didn’t know my own strength.  
Survived my darkest hour.  
Hope kept me alive.  
I picked myself back up._

_Hold my head high.  
I was not built to break.  
I didn’t know my own strength._

_I was not built to break.  
I’ve gotten to know my own strength._

“That was really moving, Kurt.”

Kurt nodded and took his seat in the back. After he sat down, he raised his hand.

“Yes, Kurt?”

“I’d like to propose something for Nationals. We have nine guys and seven girls. But we also have the members of the Troubletones that will be joining the all-girls number. I’d like to propose that we invite two of them to join us so that we have an even number of girls and guys. It will make the blocking work better for our choreography since we tend to dance in pairs. Perhaps Santana could make suggestions about which two would be the best fit with our voices and vocal parts.”

“That’s an interesting idea. I’ll talk to Santana about it. So, as Kurt already mentioned, Nationals will be May 12th in Chicago. We need to start rehearsing. We will not make the mistake of showing up unprepared like we did last year. You all did great, but I’d like to do better this year.”

Kurt raised his hand again.

“Yes, Kurt?” Mr. Schue’s tone was getting annoyed.

“I’d like to make another suggestion. We already have an all-girls number. I suggest that we also have an all-guys number. We did well at Sectionals with an all-guys number and two mostly-guys pieces. We could do a reprise of ‘Man in the Mirror’, but feature all of us this time.”

“That’s an interesting idea.”

“But I need to sing a solo ballad,” Rachel said.

“You were featured last year, Rachel. Of the original five members, I’m the only one who has only had a couple of featured lines in competitions over the seven competitions we’ve competed in. You’ve had your chance to shine, many times.”

“I think Kurt has a good idea,” Puck said. “We rocked ‘Man in the Mirror’.”

Tina said, “I have a suggestion as well. I’d like to actually DO something in Chicago. Last year we went to New York and we ended up mostly just wandering around and looking at stuff, but we didn’t actually do anything. I say we wear the dresses that we wore for Regionals since we have enough for everyone. Kurt and I can change the gold sashes and bodice accents to red like the crinolines we wore. The guys can wear what they wore for Regionals, but with the vests they wore to Nationals last year. There are more of those, so I know we can find two more for Joe, Blaine, and Rory. And they can wear red ties. With no money spent on costuming, maybe we can use the money we have to go to one of the really cool museums and out to eat somewhere nice as a group. Three-quarters of our group is graduating. I want to do something nice while we’re all still together.”

“These are all good ideas. You and Kurt can talk about reworking costumes we already have. I’ll look into reworking “Man in the Mirror’.” He turned to Santana. “Do you already have a piece picked out for the Troubletones?”

“We do. We’ve chosen ‘Edge of Glory’.”

“Alright. That sounds good. I like this group effort. What songs can you all think of that would fit with the two that we have already? Or that would provide a counter-balance in some way?”

They all started brainstorming and using their phones to look up possible songs. He gave them five minutes to work on it before he asked them for what they had come up with. He started writing them on the board. When he finished, he had a list of five songs.

“Alright, everyone look through the lyrics of these five songs and then we’re going to vote. Once we’ve narrowed it to two choices, we’ll have a final vote.”

After the two rounds of voting, “Dashboard Lights” had been chosen.

Rachel was livid. “That’s not a ballad.”

“No, it isn’t,” Kurt said. “No one said you were guaranteed a solo ballad at Nationals again.”

“This isn’t right,” she insisted.

Santana had had it. “Knock it off, Rachel. This is how the group split last fall. Your diva behavior tore the group apart. We came back, but we’re not to listen to you demand everything for yourself. Let Mr. Schue work on the arrangement. If it doesn’t seem like it’s going to work, then we can rethink our choices. But we all voted fair and square. ‘Dashboard Lights’ is our first choice. It’s a really upbeat ‘70s song to contrast with the smooth calmness of ‘Man in the Mirror’ from the ‘80s and the more recent pop feeling of ‘Edge of Glory’, which is from last year.”

Mr. Schue cut her off. “Does anyone else have something they want to sing before we end?”

Rachel raised her hand.

“You and I just sang last week,” Santana pointed out. “Let Rory or Puck or Sam sing. Someone who didn’t sing last week.”

* * *

Kurt went straight to the shop after school on Tuesday and started working on a busted water hose. He moved on from there to tackle the rest of the things on the to-do list Cassius had made for him. When he finished, he started cleaning the tools and straightening up the portable tool cabinets.

“Hey, Cassius?”

“Yeah?”

“If I draw up some plans for a platform to create living space in a tiny apartment, do you think you could help me work on the actual plans to build it?”

“I might be able to, but my specialty is metal work. Welding. Things like I built for your school play. Woodworking isn’t really my thing, but I have a buddy who does it. I’m sure he could tell you. He does carpentry for a living, but he also takes side jobs. He might have time to help you cut the pieces you need.”

“Perfect. Can you find out when he’d have time to meet with me? Maybe get like three options because I have school and Glee and my schedule here to work around.”

“Sure.”

“Thanks. Is there anything else you need me to do before I clean up and go home and do homework?”

He looked around. “Not that I see. I’ll see you Friday.”

“See ya,” Kurt said on his way to the break room.

* * *

Kurt’s excitement built throughout the day Wednesday. He was planning to meet Chandler at the park for a picnic after school. Chandler had to work at 5:00, but they had time for a quick date before then. Kurt had gotten up early and baked a small batch of chocolate chip cookies. He had made a fruit salad and chicken salad with the leftover chicken from dinner while the cookies baked. After school, he stopped by the house, grabbed the food, and left immediately.

Kurt arrived a few minutes before Chandler and managed to have the tablecloth on and the food he brought sat out on the table. Chandler sat the tea, and two Cobb salads, minus the chicken, on the table and sat down.

This time rather than sitting across from Kurt, he sat next to him. They were both facing away from the parking lot so they had a nice view of the wooded area behind the shelter. There weren’t any younger kids or families at the park yet because the elementary schools let out after the high schools.

“Is it okay if I kiss you?” Chandler asked.

“Mmm hmm. I was hoping you would.”

They kissed a few times and then turned their attention towards eating. When they finished, they packed everything back in the vehicles and went for a hike.

Once they were out of sight of the parking lot, Kurt took Chandler’s hand. They walked along the path they had they had followed five days before, but this time they were holding hands and goofing off rather than just meeting. He pulled him over to the edge of the path and led him behind a small clump of evergreen trees.

“Clandestine kissing in the woods?” Chandler asked.

“Umm hmm,” Kurt said, as he wrapped his arms around Chandler. “Unless you’re opposed to the idea.”

“Not at all.” He leaned forward and kissed Kurt. “Best use of coniferous tress that I can think of at the moment.” He moaned a bit as Kurt trailed light kisses down his neck.

“Don’t worry. I won’t leave marks,” Kurt said softly, as he kissed right below Chandler’s ear.

“That feels so good that I’m not sure that I’d care if you did.”

When Kurt couldn’t kiss any lower, he nuzzled his nose into the nape of Chandler’s neck and just breathed in his scent, which was something he’d never been inclined to do before, but being with Chandler was so different, so enticing. He was filled with desire in a way he hadn’t been before. Desire that he wasn’t embarrassed by. He kissed back up Chandler’s neck and along his jaw. He didn’t make it all the way down to his chin before Chandler turned and pressed his lips to Kurt’s urgently.

Chandler pulled them closer together. Kurt licked at Chandler’s lower lip and Chandler parted his lips and they began to tentatively explore each other’s mouths, both of them experiencing something new together. Chandler’s dreams of kissing Kurt were pale in comparison to the real thing and he was enjoying every second of what was a going on. Kurt had never felt turned on like he was. Chandler’s tongue running along the roof of his mouth was the most amazing feeling. Eventually, they had to pause to catch their breath. Kurt pressed his forehead to Chandler’s as their panting slowly returned to regular breathing.

Kurt didn’t have time to say anything before Chandler’s lips were back on his and they were back to kissing passionately, but a couple of minutes into it, Kurt’s phone buzzed. He placed a gentle kiss on Chandler’s lips. “That was my It’s-time-to-head-back-towards-the-parking-lot alarm. I don’t want you to be late to work.” He kissed him one last time and stepped back.

Chandler nodded and took his hand. “The alarm was a good idea. It’s easy to lose track of time in the woods.” He winked at Kurt.

They went around the evergreens to the trail and started walking. “Distractions abound, don’t they?”

“They do. I’m particularly fond of the blue-eyed distractions. The ones that sing like angels and are smart and funny,” he paused and said softly, “and very, very hot.”

Kurt blushed.

“You meant what you said that day. No one has complimented you.”

“No, not really.”

“Well, that is an injustice I can do something about.” He squeezed Kurt’s hand.

Kurt was struck by the way Chandler had said that with absolute conviction. “I have to work Friday until 7:00, and then we’re having Family Dinner because my dad is going to actually be in town Friday, but are you busy Saturday morning?”

“Nope. I actually work Friday evening too. I’m all yours Saturday morning. What did you have in mind?”

“How about a museum somewhere? Or we could go hiking again somewhere.”

“How about Toledo?”

“Sure.”

“We can talk about what we’ll do before then. You can search the area and see if there’s anything you think looks interesting.”

They’d gotten back to the clearing near the shelter. Kurt squeezed Chandler’s hand before he let go. They walked the rest of the way to the parking lot. He grabbed the rest of the cookies out of the back of his Navigator and handed them to Chandler.

“The rest are yours. Call me later?”

“I will when I get home from work. This was fun.”

Kurt smiled and nodded. “It was.”

As he got in his car, Chandler said, “Thanks for the cookies.”

Kurt blew him a kiss and winked. He got in and rolled the window down just a bit for some fresh air _. My boyfriend thinks I am very, very hot. And he’s seriously the sweetest guy ever._ He smiled thinking about their kissing in the woods. _He’s such a good kisser._ And the memory of the unabashed moaning went straight to other places. He decided to embrace the joy that he felt. Done were the days of tempering his enthusiasm. He didn’t even care whether he’d get bullied again. He was tired of living his life by someone else’s rules because that always left him feeling dissatisfied with himself. He knew what he was singing the very next time he had the opportunity.

* * *

Kurt was singing when Carole came into the kitchen.

“Your picnic went well, I take it?” She poured herself a glass of iced tea and sat down at the island.

“It did. It was fantastic. Is this what dating is supposed to be like?”

“What do you mean?”

He put the last pan back in the cabinet and poured himself a glass of tea as well. “I feel all light and airy and cheerful. And _other_ things.” He sat down at the island with her.

She chuckled. “I’d say that yes, dating should make you feel all of those things and _those_ things too. You seem surprised.”

“I’m confused. This may involve TMI, so feel free to say you don’t want to hear it before I start.”

“I’m good, Kurt. I’m not squeamish. I’m a nurse, remember?”

He laughed. “Okay, so back around the middle of October before the musical, I was at Blaine’s house, and we were alone. He was dancing around and I was sitting on his bed. I asked him if he ever had the urge to just rip of all our clothes and get dirty. And he just nonchalantly said that he had, but that’s why masturbation had been invented.”

Carole about choked on her tea from laughing. “Oh, boy. So, then what happened?”

“He hopped on the bed and pecked me on the lips and told me that he wanted me to be comfortable, so he could be comfortable. I didn’t really get it. I wanted a serious answer from him. I see all of these movies where the couples are undressing each other with their eyes. And as soon as they get somewhere private, they’re like stripping each other and acting like they can’t get their clothes off fast enough.”

“Umm hmm. And you didn’t feel that way?”

“No, and I was trying to figure out why. Was that just something in movies? Are they just playing it up? And his tone didn’t match his answer. So yes, he felt like tearing my clothes off? But he also said something about me wearing so many layers. That doesn’t seem to stop people in the movies. And his comment about masturbation wasn’t all that helpful. God, this is embarrassing. Dad told me I should go to him with my questions, but I _know_ that won’t work. He’ll just tell me to wait until I’m 30 again.”

She chuckled. “It’s fine, honey. I’ll just tell you that unless your on the asexual spectrum or you have a low libido, given your age I would say that the desire to strip each other down should probably be pretty strong, like really hard-to-resist strong.”

“That’s what I figured. Here’s where the TMI part comes in.”

She nodded.

“The next day, he met Sebastian at Dalton, who flirted with him from the get-go, I would imagine. I met him the following day when the two of them were having coffee without my knowledge. I went to the Lima Bean, and they were there. He was flirting with Blaine, big time. Anyway, he invited us to go to Scandals and got us fake IDs.”

“Go on.”

“We went. I didn’t drink. He did. He drove.” Kurt shook his head. “I helped him out and got him in the backseat, rebuffing his advances and requests to be kissed. He pulled me in on top of him and kept pressuring me to have sex in the car with him. I continued to say no and finally got out of the car.”

“Oh, Kurt.”

“I know, but I loved him, and I chalked it up to him being drunk. I mean the only other time I’d seen him drunk, he made out with Rachel. I felt like I was going to lose him to Sebastian, who seemed to be offering him exactly what I wasn’t willing to give him. The next night after the show, we skipped the cast party because I told him that I wanted to go to his house. I thought I could give him what he wanted. I removed my layers down to my jeans and an undershirt and he put on some lounge pants and left his singlet on. We were lying in his bed facing each other. I just couldn’t bring myself to move past kissing, and not even _that_ kind of kissing.”

“Sounds like you’re not really attracted to him.”

“I thought I was. I mean I was back when we first met.”

“People’s feelings can change. You don’t have to answer this out loud, but you mentioned him making out with Rachel and how he behaved towards you when he was drunk. There’s the possibility that, over time, things he’s done have changed the way you feel about him. I dated after Christopher died. Some of them seemed like a decent fit, but they were hiding their real selves in order to get laid, basically. I wasn’t an easy mark. I did fall for one guy who got along well with Finn, but he ended up cheating on me. How well do you really know Blaine? I mean, we’re going to meet Chandler’s parents tomorrow and go out to dinner together and you seem fine about it. We’ve never met either of Blaine’s parents. You came home surprised not more than a few weeks ago when Blaine’s brother showed up at school. You had known him for a year and a half or so and didn’t even know he had an older brother. Have you met his parents?”

“No. He only had me over when they’re not home.”

“What do you know about him?”

“Now, that you’re pointing it out, I guess not much. He talks about himself all the time, but never in a personal way, which is very hard to explain. Last week I told Rachel that Blaine and I were like an old married couple, and I guess I equated that with stability and contentment, but I’m realizing now that at my age there should be a lot more fire and desire.”

“It seems that maybe Chandler is helping you with these realizations,” she teased.

“Oh, God. We were kissing in the woods after our picnic, and yeah.” He blushed. “This has been an enlightening conversation. Mortifying, but enlightening. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. I’m glad to see that you’ve found someone who puts such a genuine smile on your face. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile as much as you have the past few days. Things were bad for you when we first met. And they got worse from there. But honestly when we sent you to Dalton, I thought there would be a dramatic shift in the stress in your life and that you’d relax and be more like a teenager.”

“I let Dalton change me. It was this final step of me realizing that I was unacceptable, period. At Dalton, no one could actually harass me, but that didn’t automatically make me accepted. It’s kind of like love and hate. Hate isn’t the opposite of love. Apathy is the opposite of both of them. I went there and I wasn’t ostracized or harassed, but I wasn’t welcomed with acceptance. The response was apathy. I brought up competition ideas and they were just ignored. Blaine told me that everyone wore a blazer for a reason and that I need to learn to fit in. And I did. I gave up what I had never been willing to let go of at McKinley – my individuality.”

“I didn’t realize things weren’t better for you there.”

“I was safe. I traded my individuality for safety. Honestly, I could have stayed on the Cheerios and been safe, but I was stubborn. I wanted to wear my own clothes and I didn’t want to be under Coach Sue’s thumb and be hounded about my weight. That’s a whole other conversation that has nothing to do with what I was originally talking about, which was how different I feel with Chandler than I did with Blaine. I’ve not felt this light and cheerful before. It’s a really nice way to feel. I do have one request.”

“What’s that, honey?”

“Don’t bring up Blaine tomorrow when we go to the game and out with Chandler and his parents. Please tell Dad that as well. I’ve closed the door on that. He’s out of the picture. I don’t want him brought up, even in passing. You know, things like – ‘It’s so nice to actually meet the two of you. We never met Kurt’s last boyfriend’s parents.”

“Got it. That might be the kind of thing your dad would say because he was never thrilled about that.”

“Thanks for helping me think through things. Oh, and Dad knows what I just told you about Scandals, but not the stuff about my confusion about my feelings.” He hopped up and put his glass in the dishwasher. “I’m going to go work on something for Glee.”

* * *

Rachel cornered Kurt Thursday morning at his locker.

“Good morning, Rachel.”

“You broke up with Blaine?”

“He broke up with me. You were there.”

“You’re just going to give up and walk away? You’re not going to try to win him back?”

“I didn’t do anything worthy of losing him. I didn’t cheat on him. I’m not going to apologize any more than I already did for upsetting him. But upsetting him and cheating on him are two completely different things.”

“But you just told me a week ago that you two were like a fabulous old married couple.”

Kurt lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. “But I’ve realized quite a few things since then, like feeling like an old married couple when I’m 18 isn’t typical. And that he really should feel like ripping my clothes off. I’m clearly not doing it for him, Rachel. You mentioned the puns and Finn’s determination.”

“Mmm hmm.”

“How would you feel if he never mentioned anything like that? What if he never tried to kiss you or pursue you spontaneously? What if all of your kissing time was scheduled, and then Finn forgot or just chose not to show up?”

“That would be so totally weird. And hurtful.”

“Welcome to my life where the weird is commonplace. He made out with you more passionately than he has ever kissed me. He claims he is 100% gay, but clearly I’m not his type, which is fine. I’m moving on with my life. Can you seriously imagine going back to someone who doesn’t find you attractive?”

“No, not really.”

“Anyway, are you ready for your audition Monday?” He shut his locker and started walking with Rachel to class.

“I’m definitely ready, but I’ve heard that you’re thinking of not doing _Phantom_. Why would you change your mind at the last minute?”

“It’s not entirely last minute. I just recently decided that I’m going to be me whether anyone else likes it or not. I’m not doing _Phantom_. I don’t think my voice is right for it.” He let her walk in the room in front of him and they sat down at the same table together. “I’m doing a song from the _Boy from Oz_.”

Their teacher walked in and ended their conversation.

* * *

Chandler opened the back door of the Navigator and got in quickly, shutting the door behind him. “I can’t believe you’re here.” He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’ll calm down.” He laughed at himself. “Who am I kidding? I’m not going to calm down.”

Kurt smiled and grabbed him by his jersey and pulled him forward and kissed him. “Better?”

“Much. I’m so excited that you’re here. I can only stay a couple of minutes. I have to be out on the field soon.”

Kurt pulled him close again and they kissed for a few minutes. “I’ll see you afterwards. Go on. Don’t be late.”

Chandler leaned forward and kissed him once more before he ran off.

Kurt checked his phone to find out where his parents were sitting. He locked the Navigator and headed across the parking lot into the stands. He found them and sat down in the center seat of the three empty seats in between them. A few minutes later, he saw Chandler’s parents coming up the stairs. He waved.

They came down the aisle. The three of them stood not knowing which order to sit in. After some laughter, Kurt sat back down and Burt and Carole moved to the seats closest to him. Sharon sat next to Carole and James sat next to Burt. Kurt did the introductions and Chandler’s parents sat on the front edge of their seats at an angle so the five of them could talk a little easier until the game started.

Sharon said, “You look really familiar, Carole, but I honestly can’t place where I would know you from. I know it was from a while back because we were quite a bit younger.”

They talked for a while until they figured out that Sharon had previously worked as a receptionist in a nursing home that Carole worked in not long after she had moved to Lima. Since then she had taken a position at one of the elementary schools as the school’s secretary instead.

And of course, James recognized Burt from taking his car in to get new tires a few times and the campaign ads. James teasingly bemoaned Chandler’s love of baseball over soccer, causing Burt to laugh. The four of them seemed to hit it off, which made Kurt happy.

Kurt struggled through the game to remember to just clap and not cheer at all since his audition was in four days. He caught Burt staring at him with a ‘If-it’s-your-boyfriend-in-stirrup-pants-it’s-okay’ smiles. Kurt shrugged and went back to clapping when Chandler scooped up the line drive and tagged the runner approaching third base, and then threw the ball to the second baseman, who tagged the runner from first out – the second and third outs of a run-less ninth inning. North Lima had won 8-7.

Kurt got in line at the Booster Club’s table and picked up a card on where to buy North Lima fan gear. From there, he went out to the parking lot to wait for Chandler. The four parents headed out to the restaurant.

Ten minutes later, Kurt got a text that Chandler was ready. He pulled the Navigator up to the building and Chandler hopped in.

“You were amazing. That last play was great.”

“Thanks.” He leaned over the console and kissed Kurt before he put his seatbelt on.

Kurt grinned and took off.

* * *

Kurt got home about an hour after Burt and Carole. When he went in the house, the two of them were sitting in the living room. Burt was reading something that looked like a piece of legislation and Carole was reading a book. Kurt sat down in the chair by the bookcase.

“So?”

They both looked up at him.

Carole smiled and winked at him where Burt couldn’t see.

“I like him,” Burt stated. “He’s a little excitable, but he had just won the game by snagging that line drive and tagging the second out and assisting on the third out, so I’ll cut him some slack on that.”

“He’s that excitable all the time.”

“I see.”

Carole snickered. “He’s adorable. You already know that I like him.”

“Carole says you’ve been smiling for nearly a week. It’s a good look on you – one that’s been missing for a long time. From my perspective, it seems like you’re moving awfully fast from one relationship to another, but Carole pointed out that it’s not exactly out of the ordinary at your age. I just thought you and Blaine were solid and really serious, but you keep things close the vest. Carole said that the two you have had some long talks and that you’re sure about you and Blaine being over.”

“I am.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re happy. You deserve it. I like his parents too. Down-to-earth people that work hard and love their kid.”

Kurt got the message quickly about how much Burt disliked the fact that he had never met Blaine’s parents. “Kids. He has a sister, Marlene, who is eight years older. She’s married. She lived in Toledo for a while, but now she lives in DC. She’s a forensic accountant. I had to look up what that was. I’ll let you look if up if you want to know what it is.”

“Sounds ominous,” Carole said.

Kurt laughed. “Nope. Just tedious. I haven’t told Finn. I’d like to keep it that way for now. I have my audition Monday and I managed to get Rachel to drop the topic of the break-up for now, but if Finn finds out about Chandler, he’ll tell Rachel for sure. I’d rather cross that bridge later.”

“That’s fine, honey.”

“We’re going to Toledo on Saturday, early. I’m not sure what we’re doing because Chandler says that it’s a surprise, but I’m excited. It’s just fun to have someone to talk to who actually listens. I better get upstairs. I’ve still got schoolwork left to do.”

“Before you leave, I want to talk to you about Scandals. I don’t want you going back there. You’re not 21. Plus, I’d like some reassurance that your days of lying by omission are over. If I had known what he had tried in his car, you and I would have had a long conversation last fall about his suitability as a partner. But you’ve already come to that conclusion on your own. You remember what I told you, right? You matter, Kurt. What Blaine did was wrong. He tried to take away your choice about what you do with your body. That’s never right. Your body, your choice. Got it?”

Kurt nodded. “I know. Everything with Chandler is really different. I want you to listen to this, okay?” He pulled his phone out and let the two of them listen to what Chandler had said after his audition.

When it finished, Burt said, “Well, that was some speech. He didn’t write that ahead of time or anything?”

“Not that I know of. I don’t know how he could have known what they would ask him or that they would even ask him anything. He didn’t say anything about an oral interview, just that he was supposed to sing three songs.”

Carole said, “He’s very young to have such a mature outlook. I already liked him. Now, I like him even more.”

“I’m not expecting you to tell private, intimate information, Kurt. You’re an adult and you’re free to do whatever you see fit. I know that in a town like this, reporting any incidents would just be ignored, but please if anyone ever tries to force you to do something you don’t want to do, I want you to know that we’re here for you.”

Kurt nodded. “I know.”

“Burt’s right though. If you decide you think you need to see someone about anything, let us know and we’ll find someone good.”

“I will.” He stood up. “I’m going to go do my homework now, okay?”

“Yeah, honey. That’s fine.”

* * *

“Come in, Sam,” Kurt said in response to the two raps on his door.

“Long time, no see,” he said as he plopped next to Kurt on his bed and stretched out.

“I saw you a few hours ago at school.”

“That doesn’t count.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “So, what’s up?”

“That’s what I came to find out.”

“Well, I already told you that I asked him to be my boyfriend and things are going great. I really like him. He’s a lot of fun.”

“So, you actually really like him? You’re not just lonely and willing to accept whoever will have you?”

“Sam!”

“Well, that’s how I’ve felt for a long time, so I know I don’t have much room to talk. But you’re amazing and deserve someone awesome.”

“Stop selling yourself short. You deserve someone awesome too. I just don’t think she goes to McKinley.”

“I’ve decided to try going solo for now. I’m not sticking around Lima after school gets out. I don’t need to get my feelings tied up with someone here.”

“Well, I do actually really like him. He has a really amazing outlook on life. He’s not naïve, thinking that everything is going to be great and amazing, but he’s a positive person, and I like that about him. I’ve let my positivity slip. I’m reclaiming it. Kurt Hummel will be returning, loud and proud. No more background Kurt.”

“I’ve seen him returning this week – the version of you that walked straight up to me and introduced yourself. You shook my hand and you were confident that if we sang together we could win. After you called our duet off, you got up on that stage and owned that song. I was in awe. And a bit miffed that you had dropped me, but I figured it all out later. Anyway, welcome back to the amazing Kurt Hummel. I’ve missed him. We’ve got two months of school left and I really don’t give a crap what anyone at McKinley thinks anymore. I’ve gotten over that, so be prepared for me to start acting like we’re actually friends.”

Kurt smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind. You’re not going to go get an ‘I love Kurt’ tattoo on your wrist or something, are you?”

Sam cracked up laughing. “Good idea. I should order a set of those temporary tattoos with that written on them. I wonder how long it would take people to notice.”

“I guess that depends on how ‘gay’ you start acting.”

“I’ll have to think of some awesome way to embarrass you.”

“Meh. Unlikely, but feel free to try.”

“Challenge accepted.”


	6. Chapter 6

Saturday morning, Kurt got up early like he did on school days. All Chandler had told him about where they were going was that it wasn't on an outdoor excursion. _You look great in anything and whatever you pick will be perfect._ The words ran through Kurt's mind over and over as he stood in his closet looking for just the right thing to wear. He finally settled on a pair of dark charcoal slacks that were slim fit, but not as tapered as a lot of his pants. He chose his pale mauve long-sleeved button up with the dark gray diamond print shirt that he hadn't worn since the fall of junior year as far as he could remember. He grabbed a dark gray tie and a dark gray scarf to choose between once he was dressed. He chose to go with the scarf after trying both. He grabbed one of his more unusual gray jackets and put it on. He went downstairs and grabbed his wool pea coat and stepped outside when he saw Chandler pull up.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going yet?"

"Nope."

"Does this look okay?"

"You look great. Get in."

Kurt put his coat in the back and got in the front. He leaned across and kissed Chandler. "Good morning, handsome."

"Mmm. Good morning to you too." He backed out of the driveway and headed out to the highway.

"I insist on paying for half of the gas," Kurt said. "I know your car gets better mileage, but I don't want you stuck with the expense of the driving all the time. I'll keep your car in good working order, so you won't have that expense – just parts if you need something."

"My own personal mechanic – definitely something I had never considered that might have. And he's sexy too."

Kurt blushed.

Chandler pushed play on the CD player and they both started to sing along.

* * *

A little over an hour later, they pulled up to a diner. They got out and went inside. It didn't take long to be seated.

"They have really good breakfast food here," Chandler said. He slid into the same side of the booth as Kurt had, the way Kurt had when they were in Chicago. "I haven't had anything I didn't like."

They picked up menus and made their choices. It didn't take long for the waitress to bring their food out. Chandler was fidgeting a bit. Kurt reached up onto the table and took his hand and held it in his lap. He ran his thumb along Chandler's index finger gently. He calmed down some.

"That feels really good. Sorry I'm so hyped up."

"It's adorable. I told you that. You don't need to be nervous though. I'm sure I will love whatever you've planned. I get to spend the day with you doing it, don't I?"

He nodded. "It's a combination of nerves and excitement because I really like you and I'm still just sort of having that I'm-having-an-extended-fantasy feeling."

"If this were a fantasy, wouldn't you be all suave and smooth and not the least bit nervous?"

"That's true. My fantasy version of myself is much more put together and less hyper than the real me."

"Well, I like the real you. Just be yourself. We can't get to know each other if you try to act like you think I would want you to." Kurt took another bite of his food.

"You're right and I am being myself. I just sometimes wish I were more calm. I get on people's nerves."

"So do I."

Chandler laughed. "So, tell me something you've never told anyone."

* * *

"Oh, my God, Chandler. You're going to make me lose my willpower about saving my money for New York." Kurt panned the interior of the old K-Mart building that was now an indoor flea market that held over a hundred booths.

"It's amazing, isn't it?"

"It's fantastic. Is this a timed event? How long do we have to look around?" He rocked up onto his toes and back down several times.

"We have until 1:00, if we skip lunch."

"Let's go before we waste any more time." Kurt reached out for Chandler's hand and they turned right and started through booths. "This place is amazing."

Chandler was thrilled by how well his idea had gone over with Kurt.

Three booths in, Kurt let go of his hand and picked up a deep forest green military trench coat. "It's like new. I've never seen one in this shade of green. It looks like it's my size. I have to try this on. Will you hold my jacket?"

"Of course." Chandler reached out and took it from Kurt.

Kurt slipped it on and buttoned it up. "It fits perfect." He looked at the tag. "It's only $25. I have to get this. I'm going to take all of the buttons off and sew them back on with red thread. I have this fantastic red scarf with earth tones, including this color of green that will look amazing with this coat. The belt is really long, so I'll shorten that. I'll put darts in the back too, so it won't bunch up when I fasten the belt, similar to the way Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock coat is in the back." He hung it back up on the hanger and put his suit coat back on.

Chandler looked through the rack of coats as well. "Look at this one. It's deep navy like my boots. It's a lot like the one you tried on, but this one is thigh length."

Kurt held out his hand to hold Chandler's suit coat while he tried it on.

"I like it, but I'm going to swap the buttons out for burnished stainless or pewter – something contrasting in the silver family for sure. Darts would make it more comfortable, like you said."

They left that booth and continued walking down the aisle. There were dolls, quilts, knick-knacks of all sorts, and furniture that they walked past.

"On the shorter coat, you could put in two darts and create two pleats or flaps at the bottom since it has none right now."

"Now, that's a fun idea, but I'm not really a good enough tailor to do the darts and flaps on a jacket."

"I can do it. You can come over tomorrow morning and we can work on them, if you have time."

"Sure. It's almost warm enough that we can start to wear them."

"Maybe at some point today, we can squeeze in a trip to a craft or fabric store and you can find buttons you like. You can work on swapping the buttons on yours and resewing mine on with red thread while I work on putting in the darts."

"I can do that. I'm decent at sewing. I can do hems and small repairs, but nothing too complicated. I have managed to put darts in a few of my button-up shirts. I watched a video on YouTube about ten times before I tried it on a shirt I had outgrown to get the hang of doing it. I like to wear vests a lot and having the shirts balloon out in the back does not look good, but I also like to wear ties sometimes, so I can't just buy the shirt smaller so that it fits tighter."

"I have the same problem. Some of the shirts in the stores come in a slim or modern fit now, which I love. Except my budget does not love the price tags on new dress shirts. I'm better off buying them second-hand and altering them."

"Me too."

"I do go in Macy's and Kohl's and check out their clearance racks and I've found some good deals, especially if I use Carole's coupons and her card. I just take it up to the service desk afterwards and pay off whatever I put on it. Clearance at 70% off, plus a 30% off coupon makes them affordable."

"Take me next time?"

"Sure. Ooh, look. This booth has a big tub of buttons and you can fill a small baby food jar for $3. Want to see if you see enough of any one style to do your jacket?"

"Let's try. If we can't find any in five minutes or so, we'll just move on."

They sorted through and had nine in their allotted time.

"We just need one more. And then two smaller one for the pockets," Kurt said. "Keep going?"

"Yes. We're so close."

Five minutes later, they had what they needed, plus Chandler had chosen two more sets of four buttons. Kurt put five sets of four buttons each to use on vests in a jar as well. They walked through the whole building and the only other thing they couldn't leave without was a burgundy and navy damask patterned vest that Chandler just had to have. They paid and put their purchases in the trunk.

"That was a lot of fun," Kurt said.

"I agree. I love those coats. Fixing them up will be fun tomorrow too."

"I think I might use the red thread and create some sort of pattern around the edge of that shoulder flap."

"That sounds interesting. I can't wait to see your idea. Maybe I could do something similar with metallic gray thread on my jacket."

"Where next?"

"Nice try, gorgeous, but you can't get me to tell that easily." Chandler looked at him and winked.

Kurt blushed.

"Open the glove box. I put a few breakfast bars and bottles of water in there."

"You knew we'd miss lunch."

"I had a inkling that we would, yes. It's hard to not look through every booth in that place."

Kurt pulled out a fruit and nut bar and opened it and handed it to Chandler before opening one for himself. They ended up eating two each and drinking the bottles of water on the drive.

Chandler pulled into a parking lot near the center of town and paid the parking fee. When he turned the car off, he said, "You'll want your coat. We have to walk a few blocks."

Once they both had their coats on, Chandler offered his hand and Kurt took it. It wasn't cold enough to need gloves and he interlaced their fingers and squeezed just a bit. He led them down the block and around the corner, and turned. Kurt saw the theater marquee.

"We're going to see _The Pirates of Penzance_?"

"We are. Have you seen it before?"

"Not live. Have you?"

"Nope."

Kurt squeezed his hand. "I am never going to be able to plan a better date than this."

Chandler smiled and squeezed back. "It's not a contest about whose dates are better. I entered a drawing to win tickets and I found out that I had won right after I had asked you to come to Toledo with me. I was going to take us to a museum, but we'll do that another time."

Chandler didn't let go of Kurt's hand and wove their way through the people standing around to get to the coat check. From there they headed into the auditorium. The lights dimmed a few minutes after they took their seats. The orchestra played for about ten minutes, giving the people milling around time to get to their seats before the show started.

"This is a nice theater," Kurt said quietly. "I've never been here before."

"I've been to quite a few shows here. They've all been really good. Before I could drive, my mom used to bring me up here on Friday after school and I'd stay with Marlene for the weekend and she'd drive me back to Lima late in the afternoon on Sunday. She brought me to several shows here."

"Sounds fun."

"It was. The summer before I started high school, I spent two months going to a theatre camp for the first time. That was a lot of fun. I've come and stayed with her, and then with her and Zach, every summer since and went to the theatre. Once I was 16, I worked in the evenings and on the weekends. The last two summers were busy with doing both, but I learned a lot. We did _Into the Woods_ the first summer, which was before my voice had changed that much and I played Jack. The year after that, we did _High School Musical_ and I was Ryan. I was Kenickie in _Grease_ the next summer. And last summer, I played Mikey in _Hairspray_ , which was kind of disappointing after getting better roles the previous years, but I still had fun. The big dance numbers were fun to do."

"I've only been in two shows. I was in the _Sound of Music_ when I was in first grade. That was before my mom died and she could take me to the after school rehearsals. After that, I wasn't in anything until I was in was in was _Into the Woods_ and I played Jack too. That was in the 6th grade. I begged my dad and he gave in and he picked me up from school, dropped me off, and went right back to work. That was the last time the Lima Theater Guild did a show that had kids in it. They were set to do _Les Mis_ a little over two years ago, but then the fire happened."

"I auditioned for _Les Mis_. I was really bummed when the water flooded the area where all of the costumes were stored and did so much damage that they couldn't afford to put any shows on. Something about the insurance. I never did get a straight answer."

"Me neither. I had auditioned too. And then of course McKinley didn't have any productions until this fall and I was 'too feminine' to play the part of Tony according to our faculty sponsors and student director."

"What?"

"It's just one thing in a long line of effeminophobic nonsense I've put up with. There's nothing that can be done about it, so I've just let it go. I'm moving on."

"Well, that was still wrong. The point of being an actor isn't to play yourself. Even if you were fond of wearing pink dresses with ruffles that shouldn't prevent you from being able to play the role of a masculine bully if that's what's called for. That's what costuming and make up are for. A few scars and some make up to give you some dark circles under your eyes. A different hairstyle. It's all in the presentation."

"That's the hope anyway. If I can only be who I am, my potential for landing a lead role in anything is slim to none."

"The same is true for me. I have faith in both of us." He put his hand on Kurt's thigh. "I saw you in _Into the Woods_. I was 11 and that was the first live show I had been to. I didn't realize you were in the show until you just said you were in it. I honestly didn't really pay attention to the program. That's not true. I have the program in a frame hanging by my desk, but obviously only the cover shows. Once I put it in the frame, I haven't taken it out. It was after that show that I decided that I wanted to perform. I was so taken by being transported to another time and place – it was magical. I've looked at the front of that program every day for years."

"I saw the _Wizard of Oz_ when I was five," he paused. "My mom and dad took me to Findlay to see the high school production there. It felt like such a huge deal. I know what you mean about seeing something live. There's just something magical about it."

The music stopped and the house lights went down.

* * *

Kurt was singing and swinging their hands between them as the walked back to the parking lot.

_I am the very model of a modern Major-General.  
I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral.  
I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical._

Kurt stopped singing. "I think that song at 'I'm not Getting Married Today' would be amongst the hardest to get up and sing over and over again. Doing it once in a recording studio where you could have the lyrics in front of you would be one thing, but they're both so fast and have so many words."

"They really do, but they're really fun to watch."

"I thought the show was great. Thank you for bringing me."

"You're welcome. I liked it too. I think dinner is in order since we skipped lunch in favor of breakfast bars and flea market shopping."

"That was so much fun though. And sure, dinner would be great."

Chandler unlocked the car and they got in. Once their doors were shut, Kurt leaned towards him and kissed him.

"I thought maybe we'd go to this Korean place that my sister and I used to go to, but I wanted to make sure. We can go somewhere else if you want."

"Sounds like an adventure. I've never had Korean food."

"Adventure it is, then." He backed out of the spot and headed to the restaurant.

* * *

They ate dinner, wandered around a few stores in the area, stopped in a second-hand bookshop to look around, and went to the fabric store to buy the right color of thread to use on their coats the next day before they headed back to Lima. They sang and talked on the way back. It didn't feel like an hour had passed when Chandler pulled up in the Hummel's driveway.

"Why don't you bring your jacket in and hang it up. That way it will be here when you come tomorrow morning? I'll even make breakfast."

"You're going to cook for me?"

Kurt leaned towards him and turned his face. "Unless you've suddenly decided that you don't like breakfast."

Chandler smiled. "I love breakfast. You already know that."

Kurt kissed him. "I do know that. Come on in. Or if you'd rather not, I can just take your jacket in with me."

"I'll carry it in."

Kurt unlocked the front door and locked it again after they were both inside. He stepped into the living room to find Carole sitting on the sofa reading a book.

"Hey, Carole."

"Hi, honey. Did you two have a good time?"

Kurt's face lit up. "It was amazing. Chandler took me to see _The Pirates of Penzance_. It was so good. And he took me to this spectacular indoor flea market. That's where we got these coats."

Both of them held the coats out for her to see.

"Those are nice."

"We're going to customize them in the morning. Chandler's going to come back and I'm going to do some alterations to make them less boxy fitting. And we're making some other upgrades."

Carole smiled. "I'm sure they'll look great."

The two of them went upstairs to Kurt's room. Kurt headed for his closet to grab two hangers for the coats. He handed the first one to Chandler. He hung his up. Chandler moved closer and then stepped into the closet with Kurt and hung his coat next to Kurt's.

"Oh, wow." His eyes scanned the clothes in the closet. "I like this. And this. Ooh, that's cool."

Kurt watched him look through everything.

"Your closet is fabulous."

Kurt blushed. "Thank you. I love clothes a little too much, but they're so much fun."

"I've never met anyone else who liked clothes as much or more than I do. I have a vest that would look perfect with this shirt." He pulled the sleeve out a bit, looking at it.

"Take it. Wear it tomorrow with the vest."

"You're kidding, right?"

Kurt looked him in the eyes. "I wouldn't offer if I didn't mean it. I'm sure we wear the same size clothes. I hadn't planned to wear it tomorrow. You can wear it if you want to."

Chandler stepped even closer to Kurt and kissed him. "Thank you."

"Sure." He wrapped his arms around Chandler's lower back and pulled him closer and resumed the kissing. He walked him backwards just enough that he could push the door closed behind him and then stepped closer to the door until Chandler was pressed against the door. Kurt moved his hands to the sides of Chandler's face, cupping it gently, and they continued kissing until they had to paused to catch their breath.

"Kurt?" Burt called out.

"Yeah, Dad? In here," he responded. Kurt quickly pulled the shirt down that Chandler liked and put it in his hand.

"Why are you in the closet with the door closed?"

Kurt opened the door and Chandler followed him out carrying the shirt. "The mirror's on the other side of the door. We can't see ourselves in it if the door's open."

Burt tried to contain his smirk. "Right. Nice to see you, Chandler."

"You too, Mr. Hummel."

"I asked you to call me Burt."

"Yes, sir."

"Not sir, either."

"Right, Burt. It's nice to see you too."

"Carole said you two went to see some show in Toledo?"

"We did, Dad. It was fantastic. We also bought two vintage coats at a flea market. We're going to spruce them up tomorrow morning."

Burt couldn't contain his smile this time. "You two have fun doing that. Carole and I will be leaving early to go to another political breakfast."

"Okay."

Burt turned and walked back out of the room.

Kurt walked over to the bedroom door and closed it. He locked it for good measure. He went back to where Chandler was standing and took the shirt from his hand and hooked it on the closet door. He put his hands on Chandler's waist. "Now, back to what we were doing, unless you had something else in mind?"

Chandler wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck and kissed him. "Nothing else at the moment."

* * *

The next morning, Kurt opened the door and greeted Chandler with a hug and a kiss. Chandler followed Kurt into the kitchen. He stood near the stove as Kurt finished up the blueberry pancakes he was making. When Kurt turned to pick up the bowl of batter again, Chandler kissed him.

"Mmm. Good morning to you too." Kurt kissed him back.

Sam walked into the kitchen.

"Sorry," Chandler said.

"For what?" Sam asked, trying to figure out what Chandler was apologizing for. "Oh, for kissing Kurt? Go for it. I'm not the least bit bothered. It's actually really nice. He deserves someone really sweet."

"Pancakes?" Kurt asked.

"With the blueberry syrup?"

"Yep."

"I'm in." He looked at Chandler. "You're going to love these."

Chandler smiled. "I'm sure I will."

Sam got three plates out and put them on the table. He came back. "Milk or juice or water?"

"Milk," Chandler answered.

Sam poured three glasses of milk and took them to the table. Kurt placed the last of the pancakes into the casserole dish and put the lid back on and carried it to the table. Sam grabbed sausage links out of the oven and put them on the table as well.

"Can you grab the syrup?" Kurt asked Chandler.

He brought it to the table, and they all sat down and served themselves.

Sam took a bite of a sausage link. "You made the maple sausages? You have to let me live with you or hire you to cook for me."

"Sam Evans, you know perfectly well how to cook and make everything I just made." Kurt laughed at him.

"I know, but it's so good. You should just start a restaurant. No, never mind. I'd be broke because I'd eat there every meal."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "You goof. You do eat here every meal."

"And there's a good reason for that." Sam stuffed a bite of pancakes in his mouth. "So good. You can never tell my mom, but your pancakes are way better."

Kurt laughed. He put his hand over his heart. "It will be our secret forever."

Chandler tried his pancakes. "Sam's right. You can't tell my mom either. Sam said 'made' about the sausages?"

"Oh, yeah. I made them last night after you went home. I made the syrup this morning while my coffee was brewing."

"It's all really good," Chandler said.

"Thanks. I'm glad you like it." He turned to Sam. "When does your shift start?"

"I have to be there at 10:00 to set up for an 11:00 party. I get off at 8:00. I took Damian's shift. Extra money is extra money. What are you two up to so this morning?"

"Alterations," Kurt answered.

"Ah, you can show me when I come home."

"Sure. We'll take some before shots so you can see what we changed."

When they finished, Sam offered to do the clean up since he didn't help cook. Chandler and Kurt went upstairs to get started on their coats.

* * *

"Sam's cute and funny," Chandler said. "And he clearly likes you."

"And I like him. Actually, I love him, but there's nothing romantic between us. He's the friend I always wanted to have – one that just accepted me for me. He and I don't have that much in common, but we get along really well. It's just easy to be friends with him in a way that I've never had with anyone else. He's so easy going and not at all prejudiced. I wondered when he first came to McKinley last year. I thought maybe he was gay or bi, but he's not. He's straight. He's just a really decent person. Does it bother you that he and I are close?"

"Nope. I figured that if he were gay or bi and you two liked each other in a romantic way that you'd already be dating."

"That's possible. If he had been gay or bi, I might have asked him out last year. But then again, I was being bullied so badly that I backed out of singing a duet with him in Glee Club. I ended up transferring to Dalton to get away from the bullying. I might have agreed to date him in secret, though. I wouldn't have wanted him to end up on the receiving end of the treatment I was getting. Plus, with him being a jock, if he had openly dated me, I would have brought more animosity onto myself because the stupid jocks would have come after me for 'converting' or 'infecting'' Sam."

"Did all of the jocks at your school get dropped on their heads as babies?"

"Maybe the football and hockey coaches let them practice without helmets in middle school." Kurt laughed at the ridiculousness of his own statement.

"That sounds plausible. No one says stupid stuff like that at North Lima. I mean they're not all 'let's embrace the gay', but they don't say stupid stuff like it's contagious."

"Well, it's good to know that not everywhere is as bad as McKinley." Kurt was ready to move away from the topic. "Slip your coat on so I can mark where to put the darts."

Chandler pulled it out of Kurt's closet and put it on. He stood near the window so Kurt could use the natural light. When he got closer, Chandler reached out for his hand. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Kurt took his hand and squeezed it.

"For bringing up a topic that made you upset."

He stepped forward and gently kissed Chandler. "I'm not upset with you." Kurt let go so he could mark where to put the darts in Chandler's coat. "There's no need for you to feel bad about how other people have treated me. You've been nothing but amazing. Really. I don't think that school can be a topic at all if you want to avoid hearing about things being unfair. That's pretty much one of the top five adjectives that could be used to describe my life. I'm doing my best not to let what's happened define who I am. And right now, I just want you to relax again. I don't want you to feel like you have to walk on eggshells. I've survived and there's only two months or so of school left. I'm hoping that I'll get to spend a lot of that time with you. What happened in the past is over."

Chandler nodded. "Okay."

"What happens now is up to us. And I want to have fun with you." He kissed Chandler again, this time he pressed in and wrapped his arms around Chandler's lower back under the coat. "I know we've only been dating a week, but I really like you. And I don't want you to feel like you have to censor yourself around me in any way. I've been in that position and I don't want that for us. If something you ask me brings up things I don't want to talk about, I'll be honest and say that I'd rather not talk about it yet, or at all. I just don't want our time together to be a venting session about all of the terrible or unpleasant things that have happened to me, but if you want to talk about them openly and honestly, we can. A few things still hurt to think about, and I may not be ready to talk about them. Some things I can talk about more easily now than I used to be able to. Others are just part of the past already. Okay?"

"Yeah. I just don't want to upset you."

"Look at me, please." He waited. "Being with you makes me happy. And I know you want to get to know me and I want to get to know you. My past is filled with a lot of unpleasant things that may come up in us getting to know each other. And unless you try to use what you learn about my past to hurt me with it, it's not going to be a problem for me to share things with you. It may just not be all at once."

"I would never use anything you tell me against you."

"I never thought you would, but that would be the only thing that would keep me from being open about my past. Also, if the topic of bullying is brought up when we're in a group, I'd rather be the one who is in charge of revealing what I've been through." Kurt slipped the coat off of Chandler shoulders and sat down to start working on it.

Chandler sat down on Kurt's bed with Kurt's coat and removed the first button. He began to sew it back on with the red thread that Kurt had out. "I get that. I've seen people embarrass their boyfriend or girlfriend and I'm not that kind of person. I know that being bullied isn't embarrassing per se, but if I brought it up, it would be revealing personal and private information about you that you may not feel like sharing with other people. I respect you and I wouldn't do that."

Kurt looked over at him. "Thank you. That actually means a lot to me."

"Us being together means a lot to me. I'm not a wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am or sir as the case is for me," he chuckled. "I'm an all-in kind of guy. I didn't honestly think I'd find someone to date for another couple of years. I figured I'd get settled in some place in New York City and once I had my bearings and felt like I was on an even keel, I'd consider dating. Last Saturday night after you left, my mom asked me how reality compared to my crush."

"That reminds me of _Knotting Hill_. When Anna and William wake up the next morning."

"And she asks him about going to bed with Gilda and waking up with her?"

"That's the part."

"I agree with him."

"Really?"

"Absolutely. But I hope you don't run off when people find out that you're with me."

"Definitely not."

"Good. I know there's no such thing as crystal balls and no one knows the future, but I'm willing to put in the effort it takes to be a good partner. Everything we've done together and all of the time we've spent talking just make me like you as a person more than I did with the crush I already had on you."

"I'm not sure what to say to that. Other than that I agree with you about how much I've enjoyed talking to your and getting to know you. And I'm willing to put in the effort as well."

Chandler got up and showed Kurt the first button he had finished. "Like this?"

"Exactly."

Chandler smiled and sat back down on Kurt's bed to tackle the rest of the buttons on the coat.

"I'm choosing to move forward and hopefully, you're part of that. We're going to go to New York and none of the people who've done things to me will be a part of that. Me and you in New York, right?"

"That's the plan. Are you ready for your audition tomorrow?"

"I think so. We can drive up there once we finish the coats and I'll show you where to park and where to meet me. If for whatever reason you can't make it, just text me and let me know so I don't wait around."

"Oh, I'm going to be there. My mom is calling me out of school tomorrow. If you can get Carole to call you out for the afternoon, we could go out for a post-audition lunch somewhere."

"I'll ask, but I doubt she'll say yes since she called me out last week."

* * *

Monday morning, Kurt got dressed, packed the clothes he was wearing for the audition in a garment bag, put his new coat on, and headed to school early. Before everyone else arrived, he and Sam ran through their song with the band. Kurt had bribed them all with muffins after rehearsal if they'd come in early.

Once everyone was in the choir room, Kurt asked to be allowed to sing. Mr. Schue was surprised because Kurt hadn't asked in so long, but he nodded and took a seat in the front row. Sam grabbed his guitar and joined Kurt in front of the piano.

"Since Sam and I were deprived of our duet a year and a half ago, we decided that we were going to do it now."

Sam sang the first two verses with Kurt harmonizing here and there.

…  
_I just wrap my arms around,  
Don't give up. This song is for you._

They sang the chorus together Kurt singing the melody and Sam harmonizing.

_Hey, hey, hey no matter how life is today,  
There's just one thing that I got to say.  
I won't let another moment slip away._

Sam sang the melody on the verses again. And they repeated the chorus with Kurt singing lead and he continued into the bridge.

_Don't let nobody ever tell you that it couldn't be done.  
Don't let nobody ever tell you that we couldn't be one.  
Don't' let nobody ever tell you that it shouldn't be sung.  
Don't let nobody ever tell you that you're the only one._

They repeated the chorus and the last part of the bridge.

_There's just one thing that I got to say.  
I won't let another moment slip away._

_I hold on, hold on, hold on.  
I hold on._

Everyone clapped when they finished.


	7. Chapter 7

Kurt, Mercedes, Tina, and Brittany had a pass to miss second period to rehearse, as did Rachel, but they agreed to split the time with Kurt using the first half, leaving Rachel time to rehearse for the second half. Kurt's "swans" got dressed while Rachel practiced.

Kurt used the time to sneak Chandler up into the stage right overlook. He made sure the lights were off before they went up the stairs. He brought a penlight with him to light up a very small space on the steps so they didn't fall on the way up or down. Once they got to the top, Kurt kissed Chandler, but said nothing. He went back down the stairs carefully and back down into the wings.

Rachel finished singing right as he came back into her view. They both did some stretches, drank a little water, and made sure their outfits were ready. When the bell indicating the end of second period rang, Rachel stepped out into the hallway, as she had been instructed. Candidates were not to be present during any audition except their own.

After the bell for the beginning of third period sounded, Mr. Schuester accompanied Madame Tibideaux into the auditorium from back, and then left. She set her things up on the desk that fit over the seats.

She enunciated clearly and spoke loudly. "Kurt Hummel."

Kurt stepped out onto the stage.

"Good morning, Mr. Hummel. I was intrigued by your application, your essay, and your video submissions. I don't think we've ever had a student with so much obvious potential whose CV is so anemic. Please do not take that as an insult. I am well aware of the limitations that living in a small rural town can have, especially for unique performers, such as yourself. I'm ready to see what you have to show me today."

Kurt nodded. He turned and looked at Tina, Mercedes, and Brittany, indicating for them to come out on stage. The band played the short intro and Kurt came in at the right time. He pulled off the tear-away black suit near the beginning of the song. He danced and moved around the stage, completely using the space. He absolutely nailed the song. When he finished singing, he was center stage, near the front.

Madame Tibideaux's face remained politely stoic throughout the performance and afterward, but her response afterward was quite positive. "You know Hugh Jackman won a Tony for playing Peter Allen?"

Kurt nodded confidently.

She continued, "Hugh trained with me the summer I was in residence at the Sydney Opera House. And I'm certain that he would have been as impressed with what you did with that song as I am." She smiled. "A bold choice, young man. I congratulate you for taking such a risk today."

He smiled and bowed very slightly. "Thank you."

"Please send Miss Berry in on your way out, Mr. Hummel."

"Yes, ma'am," he smiled politely. He stopped to pick up the two sections of his suit as he exited the stage, and then did as she had asked.

He was glad it wasn't passing period because he was stuck standing in the hallway wearing the gold lamé pants and holding his tear-away suit. It had been a long time since his last dumpster toss, and he was not interested in reliving the experience ever again.

About ten minutes later, Rachel opened the door into the hallway and stepped out. "We can go back inside in five minutes. She's sitting there writing notes."

"So, how did it go?" he asked to pass the time while they waited the required amount of time before reentering the auditorium.

"She didn't really say much, but she said my performance was 'lovely'. What about you?"

"She congratulated me on my bold song choice."

She nodded. "Blaine was disappointed that no one was allowed to watch the auditions."

"Why?"

"He didn't want to break up with you. He was just angry, like when I sang 'Give you Hell' to Finn."

"As I remember it, Finn broke up with you to go out with Brittany and Santana. That was a real reason to be upset. And you didn't lie about him to the whole group. If he had just sung an 'I'm angry' song, that would have been different. But it doesn't matter because he didn't trust me. And I had reasons not to trust him, but I'm not going to discuss those."

"Does it have to do with our pact from _West Side Story_. That was really stupid and I apologized to Finn."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh. Then, never mind."

"Tell me," Kurt insisted.

"It was really stupid. Artie told us that we weren't portraying a couple who had discovered the sexual side of love, so we stupidly decided that we should lose our virginities to do a better job, but we talked again before the show opening night and realized it didn't matter that we hadn't had sex because we could tap into the love we felt because we had found our soulmates."

"I see." Kurt kept his voice as calm as possible. "Well, method acting does have its place in theater, but I think that you made a good choice drawing the line between how far is too far to go in order to feel what your character feels. Getting a job as a waitress or shadowing one for a few days to learn how hard it is and what's involved is a whole lot different than murdering someone to find out what's involved."

"Of course. And I apologized to Finn for trying to seduce him. He was rightfully angry, but I told him I was wrong. I won't ask, but I'm assuming that you lost part of your trust in him over him trying to seduce you."

"Something like that," Kurt said, noncommittally as he flashed back to that night at Scandals in the parking lot. He willed himself to stop that train of thought. He thought about how, even now as he and Rachel stood there, Chandler liked him enough to skip school and sneak into McKinley to watch him audition and was waiting for him to come back.

"So, it's completely over between the two of you?"

Kurt cocked his head slightly and raised his eyebrows. "Did I somehow give people the impression that it wasn't?"

"It's just that Blaine seems fairly calm and confident that you'll forgive him and take him back once the stress of the audition today dissipates."

"I see. Whether I forgive him or not remains to be seen, but there is no scenario in which I will go back to him."

"Oh."

"I've found my spine again in the last 12 days. I'm happier than I've been in a long time. It's been long enough that we should be able to go back inside." He turned and pulled on the door and held it open for Rachel.

Since she didn't need to change, she just picked up her music from the piano and put it in her bag. "I'm going to go. I'll see you later."

Kurt went in the dressing room and changed his clothes back as quickly as possible. He hung both outfits up in his garment bag and put his coat back on. He left the garment bag at the bottom of the stairs and went up to get Chandler, who pulled him into a hug as soon as he was close enough.

"You were amazing. And, um, those pants. Well… you should keep those."

Kurt smiled. "Is that so?" He kissed Chandler, realizing yet again how good it felt to be wanted. And for just a minute, he let himself get lost in how much he enjoyed kissing Chandler.

"Definitely. Let's get out of here, though. I'm not interested in getting caught in here."

"Me neither." Once they were back at the bottom of the stairs, he grabbed his garment bag and led Chandler down the narrow hall back to the outside door. Kurt made sure the door was secure before walking away from the building. "I have a surprise."

"What's that?"

"I told you before you left last night that Carole told the school I had an appointment this afternoon.

"Mmm hmm."

"This morning, she told me that she had made us both appointments to get manicures, pedicures, and facials."

Chandler laughed. "She's great."

"She is. I'll follow you back to your house. We can eat lunch before we go to the salon together."

* * *

Three hours later, Kurt and Chandler were in Chandler's bedroom, lying in his bed on their stomachs, sides touching since it was a twin-sized bed. They both had textbooks open and were reading, but they were playing footsie too. Kurt managed to tickle Chandler, causing him to squeal a bit.

"No fair."

"All's fair in games of footsie," Kurt teased and kissed him. "But I'll stop for now because we need to get our schoolwork done. We promised ourselves we'd finish before we play dress up, and I really want to look through your clothes."

"Focus."

"Right. Focus."

Chandler laughed.

"I didn't even tickle you that time."

"I know, but this is fun."

"It is, but I don't think I can stay like this anymore. Let's try propping your pillows up and leaning back on them."

They worked to get more comfortable. Kurt plopped his leg over the top of Chandler's and put Chandler's hand, palm up on his own thigh, gently running his fingers across the palm of Chandler's hand. They stayed that way for about 15 minutes.

Chandler said, "As much as I'm enjoying this, I need my hand to fill out this worksheet and I need to write up the outline for my essay. We could go sit at the kitchen table and try to work quickly. I want to play dress up too."

"Sure."

* * *

Two hours later, they had managed to get through their work and they were back in Chandler's room. Kurt was looking through his closet.

"I really like a lot of these. Where did you find them?"

"Mostly in Toledo when I spent the summers with Marlene. She'd take me around to estate sales and yard sales on the weekends early in the morning. I found a lot of really nice stuff that just fit my style. I figure most of the shirts are from the '60s. I put darts in the back of a few of them, like we talked about, but most of them were already pretty slim fitting. Most of the pants I got at yard sales too. Since I like to dress in what most guys our age consider to be dress clothes, I found a lot of chinos and slacks that had probably been worn once or twice for some special occasion, which I got for a steal. Marlene likes '60s style dresses and some of the costume jewelry, like Bakelite. She found a lot of cool stuff too."

"I see what you mean about your fall and winter clothes. I do think those dark red Docs would go with a lot of your clothes."

"I'm going to get them in October, I hope. I have to make sure that I can afford everything in New York first though. If I really can't spring for them, I'll put them on my birthday list. I won't get them until November, but that's okay."

"I'm still working on my ideas for a lofted storage and living space to see what I come up with."

"Will you show me sometime?"

"Sure. The next time we're at my place." Kurt held the sleeve out on a shirt in the closet. "Can I try this one on?"

"You can try on anything you want. The only stipulation is that you have to model it for me." He winked at Kurt.

"Of course."

"The gold pants need to make a New York debut at some point. I wonder if there are 18+ clubs. I'd really like to go out dancing with you, but I don't want to get a fake ID."

"Me neither." Kurt buttoned the shirt up and tucked it in. He pretended to walk the catwalk, swaying his hips. When he turned, he winked at Chandler.

Chandler clapped for him. "Very nice. I like you in my clothes. There's just something about it that's sexy."

"Mmm hmm. Can I borrow it?"

"Sure."

He took it back off and hung it up. He went back to looking through Chandler's clothes. "Are your ready to tackle the papers we need to work on? I think we've horsed around more than our allotted time already." He put his own shirt back on.

Chandler sighed. "Sure. I will be so glad to never write a paper about books someone else chose. I love to read. I hate to write papers about books I didn't choose to read."

"You and me both. Back to the kitchen?"

"Actually, you in the kitchen, me in here. I don't have a laptop, just my dad's old desktop computer."

"Ok. I sit on my bed a lot. Do you have one of those lap desks?"

"Yeah, it's behind the door on a hook."

Kurt grabbed it and propped the pillows up again.

* * *

Chandler's mom came home a little before 6:00. She went down to his room after putting away the groceries she had brought home with her.

"You two look busy."

They both looked up.

"English papers that we don't want to write, but we are because we're such good students," Chandler responded, with mock excitement.

"I see. You're thrilled, I take it?"

"Very." Kurt said, with as little inflection as possible.

"Would you like to stay for dinner, Kurt?"

"I don't want to impose."

"No imposition. We'll eat as soon as James get home from the soccer game in about a half-hour."

"Thank you."

"No problem." She went back to the kitchen.

Kurt leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes for a minute before he texted Carole to let her know that he wouldn't be home for dinner, and then went back to work. By the time they were called for dinner, he had managed to finish his first draft. Chandler had already started to proofread his paper.

They sat down to dinner. They each helped themselves to the Southwest style casserole Sharon had made. Chandler's parents asked about their days and talked about their own.

"Carole sent us to get the salon to get pampered after Kurt's audition. It was a lot of fun. My toenails are navy now. I'll show you later. I wanted to get my fingernails done too, but I'll wait until New York for that. I don't want to rock the boat."

"I'm the same way. I had my toenails done, but not fingernails."

Chandler boasted, "Kurt did a great job on his audition."

Kurt's eyes flashed with surprise at the open praise, which was something he was still not unaccustomed to. "I'm already antsy about getting my letters. Only four days left to wait."

"I can't believe NYADA held the live auditions so late," Sharon said. "I thought Chandler's were late. I didn't think any school would hold them even later."

"Madame Tibideaux's appointment to the Dean of Vocal Performance and Song Interpretation is recent. She's been going around the country choosing her inaugural class herself. I know she's notoriously hard to please. She stopped a whole show when someone looked at their watch while she was performing an aria."

"That was her?" Chandler asked. "I remember reading about that somewhere. She was a lot more talkative during your audition than she was during Rachel's. She was definitely channeling her inner Barbra like I said earlier."

"She told me to go with something safe like she did, but I didn't. We'll see what happens."

James said, "You can ride with me to the game tomorrow if you want, Kurt. I'll drive Chandler's car, and then the two of you can leave from Findlay and hang out for a while after the game if you want. I can just ride to school with Chandler in the morning."

Kurt thought for a moment. "Actually, I think that will just make things more complicated. I have to work after school tomorrow for a while. Maybe he can just ride to school with you and come back with me. Otherwise, you'll have to backtrack to pick me up and my SUV will be at the shop after it closes."

"I'll just ride with you, Dad," Chandler offered.

James nodded. "That makes sense. I didn't know you'd be at the shop."

Kurt turned to Sharon. "This is good. Would you be willing to give me the recipe? I bet my dad could manage to make this on his own, unless some part of it requires actual cooking. He could use canned chicken I think."

"He could. And it's as simple as it looks. You just layer everything and bake it until it's warm, basically until the cheese melts. I'll show you the recipe."

"Thanks. Eating out is expensive and time-consuming. This would be quick and give him more time in the evenings to get reading done."

"I was glad when he won last fall," James said. "Sue Sylvester's reputation for both winning and being nuts is unsurpassed and Reggie is a homophobe who outed someone barely old enough to be a legal adult. I was truly concerned that Sue might win given the popularity of her spot on TV."

"She's difficult to deal with because she is incredibly unpredictable. Some people are just difficult, but they're consistently difficult and you can learn how to potentially work around the crazy, but not with Coach Sue. Last year, she actually planned a routine for Regionals that involved shooting one of the Cheerios out of a human cannon."

Sharon looked flabbergasted. "That's insane."

Kurt nodded. "Mmm hmm."

"Lots of things he says about McKinley are insane. It makes me glad that I go to North Lima." He didn't say anything that Kurt had told him in confidence.

Kurt slipped his left hand under the table and put it on Chandler's leg, which caused him to look at Kurt long enough to see him nod almost imperceptibly, and then smile. Chandler smiled back.

"Do you two have more homework still?" Sharon asked.

Kurt answered first. "To have free time after the game tomorrow, I have to finish that essay I was working on. I've finished the first draft, so hopefully it won't take too much longer."

"I already started editing mine, so I think I'm close to being done. Mine's due tomorrow."

She nodded. After, everyone finished up, Kurt and Chandler cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher before they went back down to Chandler's room.

* * *

Once he finished, Kurt packed his laptop back up and sat back down Chandler's bed. He watched Chandler as he concentrated on reading through his essay.

Chandler had realized that he failed to address one point from the question in his essay and had to add an additional paragraph, so the process was taking him longer than he had hoped. He glanced over at Kurt and winked at him before he went back to reading.

Kurt could feel himself blush. He winked back and smiled.

Chandler clandestinely pulled out his phone and turned the camera on while hoping that Kurt thought he was looking something up on Google. Kurt leaned back and closed his eyes. Chandler turned the sound off and snapped a few photos of Kurt relaxing on his bed. The next time Kurt looked over at him, he managed to get a good shot of him smiling sweetly at him.

"Are you taking pictures of me?"

"What if I am?"

Kurt shrugged, not being used to anyone wanting to photograph him. "I just ask that you don't post anything about me publicly. I've worked hard to keep embarrassing photos of myself off the internet."

"These are just for me, so no need to worry."

"Afraid you'll forget what I look like?" Kurt teased.

"Definitely not. I can't help if I like to look at pictures of my gorgeous boyfriend."

Kurt blushed again and changed the subject. "Did you finish?"

"Close enough. I know you have to go home at some point. I can do my last read-through after my shower later." He got up and sat down on the edge of his bed and turned a bit so he was facing Kurt. His eyes lit up like they did a lot of the time when Kurt was around.

Kurt wasn't used to such intense gazes being directed at him, but he did his best to maintain the eye contact. He reached out for Chandler and got him to scoot closer. He wrapped his hands around Chandler's neck and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. "Thanks for coming to watch me today."

"It was exciting and a bit nerve wracking. I'm pretty sure that I'm not cut out to be a spy. Whenever I would hear a sound, I kept thinking that I was moments from getting caught." He wrapped his arms around Kurt's back. "You were great. I know I told you already, but you really were. I'm glad we don't have to wait much longer. At this point, I'm going to be happy if I got into any of the schools I applied to in New York City. I just want to be there."

"Me too." He unwrapped his arms. "How about I scoot over and we can just lie and face each other and talk or whatever for a little bit before I have to go?"

"Sure." He let go and gave Kurt time to move and press back against the wall before lying down facing him.

"Scoot just a little closer." Once he did, Kurt put his leg over Chandler's and wrapped his right arm around his torso. "There. Now you won't fall off so easily." Kurt slipped his other arm under the pillow. He leaned forward just a bit and kissed Chandler. "You're very kissable, you know."

"Mmm. You've said so before, but I'm glad you think so." He pressed his lips back to Kurt's.

After about ten minutes, Kurt pulled back. "I don't want to go, but I need to. I know you need to finish your paper up."

Chandler pushed up on his elbow. Kurt unhooked his leg, so Chandler could get up. Kurt followed him. Once they were standing, Chandler wrapped his arms back around Kurt and kissed him gently once more.

"What do you want me to do with your shirt?" Chandler asked.

"It looks good on you. I know I told you earlier."

"You did. Do you want me to wash it? I didn't want to keep it for a long time if you wanted it back to wear."

"I'm going to wear your shirt tomorrow." Kurt stepped close enough to kiss him again. "I can get it back later." He put his hand along the side of Chandler's face and kissed him. "I really want to stay." He smiled and took a deep breath. He let go of Chandler and stepped back again. He walked to the closet, took the shirt off the hanger, folded it in half, and hung it over his arm neatly before he grabbed his bag. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll walk you out." When they got to the front door, he held Kurt's coat out for him to slip his arms into, allowing him to juggle the shirt and his bag. He walked him out to the driveway and hugged him after he put his stuff in the passenger side. "I'll see you tomorrow at my game." He put his hands behind his back and bit his lower lip.

"What?"

"Nothing. Nothing bad, I mean. I'm just excited."

Kurt slipped his hand up to Chandler's neck and kissed him once more before he walked around to the driver's side. "I'll be there."

Before he headed back inside, Chandler waved as Kurt pulled out of the driveway.

* * *

Tuesday at lunch, Kurt sat down and was quickly joined by Rachel with Finn trailing along behind her. Blaine arrived a couple of minutes later. The sting of what Rachel had told him the day before still burned in his heart. Kurt stood up, left the tray on the stack by the door, and took the food with him to the choir room. By the time he had put his food down on a clean sheet of paper on the table outside Mr. Schue's office and started to eat again, Blaine had found him. He came in the door nearest to the piano bench, which is where he sat when he came in. Kurt ignored his presence.

"I really miss you, Kurt."

Kurt looked up at Blaine. He shook his head, as he said, "I know your motivation for that scene in the parking lot last fall." He raised an eyebrow. "You, know – in October." He pulled his phone out and texted Blaine a link

Blaine opened it. It was a link to definition of sexual assault from the Wikipedia page. He looked confused, but read it anyway.

Once Kurt saw that Blaine had read through it, he said, "I also know that those Valentine's Day Secret Admirer gifts weren't from you."

"Who was it?"

"Nope. Not going to answer that." Kurt looked up and looked him in the eyes. "There's nothing more for us to say to each other. You broke up with me in a vicious way. I've moved on. I know my worth." Kurt managed to keep his voice strong and unwavering. "Whatever your motivation was for coming to McKinley, being here has worked out quite well for you. You got Tony. You had a lead and were featured in another song at Sectionals. You were featured at Regionals. And we're headed to Nationals. You can go back to Dalton for your senior year, if that's what you want. What you do is none of my concern, just as what I do is none of yours." Kurt turned back to his food and resumed eating, as if Blaine were no longer there.

"That's harsh."

"Harsh is what you did to me. Why don't you ask around and see if anyone recorded your performance so you can watch it? The facial expressions you made were vicious. If you had wanted this to end amicably, you went about it all wrong. But you ended it. There will be no reconciliation. This conversation is over. There is nothing left to say."

Kurt went back to reading an article he had saved about maintaining boundaries on his phone while he finished his lunch.

"You said you've 'moved on'. Moved on to Sam? You two have been awfully cozy and overly friendly lately."

Kurt didn't want to engage with Blaine, but he wasn't going to let him walk away with the impression that he was right. "Old news, but maybe you missed it. Sam isn't gay. He said so the _last_ time he was accused of having trysts with me and Quinn about a year ago, so don't start that rumor again. And if he _is_ closeted, then that's his choice. Since only four of us are out, there are more that 25 students in this school who have chosen to remain closeted for their own reasons." Kurt turned to look Blaine in the eyes. He lowered his voiced to the point of barely being audible. "You've outed enough people haven't you?" He went back to eating and speaking in his normal voice. "He and I are friends. You and I are not getting back together. This conversation is over."

Blaine sat there for a few minutes before finally getting up and stepping out into the hallway. Rachel was waiting for him right outside the door.

"I'm assuming you heard?"

She led him away from the choir room door before she said, "I did."

Once they were down the hall and by themselves, Blaine asked, "Was my performance the way he described it?"

She took a deep breath. "Yes, I'm afraid so. I'm pretty sure that your accusatorial look and tone took everyone by surprise to the point that I don't think anyone took their phone out to record you. When I walked up, he said something about October, but I didn't hear the beginning. What was he referring to?"

"I don't want to get into that."

"It wasn't you who sent all of the cute cards and gifts at Valentine's? We all thought that was adorable. You won lots of romantic points with the girls over that, and it wasn't even you?"

Blaine shook his head.

"What _did_ you do for him?"

"I went to the party and sang for him."

"I see. I don't actually recall you serenading him at the party, but maybe I missed it because Finn and I got there late."

"It wasn't exactly a serenade."

"Oh."

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

Rachel said, "I have to go." She scurried off to the other side of the building.

* * *

Kurt went to his locker before last period, put away everything he had with him that he didn't need and grabbed what he needed to take home with him. As soon as the final bell rang, he headed out to the parking lot. He went straight to the shop where he had ordered a custom hoodie. He hurried inside and got in line. When the sales associate handed it to him, he looked it over and paid for it. He immediately left to get to the shop in time to start his shift. Burt was there when he got there.

"Hey, Dad!" he said cheerfully, as he walked into the work bays.

"Hey, Bud. Nice smile you're sporting there."

Kurt nodded. "Thanks. It's my most recent fashion addition."

"Smartass. Come help me with this inventory."

"I'll be right back." He took the bag he had carried in with him into the break room and put it in his locker. He went right back to where Burt was waiting for him. "Your wish is my command." He smiled and bowed slightly.

"Ha! You're in a mood."

"I'm happy."

"I can see that. I'm glad for you."

"I found several articles online and I've been reading about healthy and unhealthy relationships. I'm not going to let myself get to where I was ever again."

"I'm glad to hear it. Now, climb up there and tell me how many air filters we've got left, starting with the ones up to the left."

* * *

When his shift ended, Kurt changed quickly. He layered a tight-fitting, black thermal henley over his singlet. Over that, he slipped on a thin black and gray heathered v-necked wool sweater. He folded Chandler's shirt up and put it and the tie he had been wearing in the bag neatly. He put the bag in the backseat when he got out to the parking lot. He picked up the aubergine hoodie and looked at it again. Across the chest, it had PANTHERS written in tall block letters in white with a white rectangle underneath with BASEBALL written in relief. On the back, he had customized it with KIEHL written across the shoulder blades below the hood in the same font as PANTHERS and underneath there was a large number 30. He had worn a pair of dark gray skinny jeans and his white Docs to school, which went with the hoodie perfectly. He pulled it on and adjusted the layers so that he was comfortable.

He hopped in and headed to Findlay. On the drive, he listened to one of his favorite Madonna play lists and sang along. He texted Chandler to let him know where he had parked before he went to get in line to get into the stadium. He texted James to find out where to find he and Sharon were sitting. Once he got closer, they waved at him. He worked his way through the crowd and scooted down the row to get to them.

"Oh, wow. That's nice!" Sharon said.

Kurt grinned and turned so that she could see the back.

"When did you get that done?" she asked.

"I ordered it late last week. I picked it up after school today."

She turned towards James and winked at him.

He nodded back, smiling.

"Oh, I got you a Diet Coke when we were in line at the concessions. I figured you two would go out to eat afterwards, but I thought you might be thirsty."

"Thanks." He took it from her after he sat down.

The game was over more quickly than the one the week before. North Lima's pitcher nearly managed a shut out, but Findlay did make one run with a final score of 8-1. Kurt walked out to the parking lot with James and Sharon. They waited by the Navigator with Kurt until Chandler came out. They both hugged and congratulated him before they left.

Chandler hugged Kurt after they had walked away. "Nice hoodie."

Kurt turned to let him see the back.

"Oh, wow. You had one personalized. It's amazing!"

"I'm glad you approve."

"What's not to like? My very sexy boyfriend is wearing a hoodie with my name and number on it. I like the design. I don't remember seeing that one before."

"I liked it because it doesn't say North Lima on it. It just says Panthers. This way I can wear it still when we're in New York and no one will know where we're from."

"Whatever your reason, I like it, and it makes me feel really special."

"You are special. Let's get in. Are you hungry for anything in particular?" Kurt asked, as he used his remote to unlock the Navigator.

"There's this Mexican place not too far off the path back to Lima. The food is good."

"Just direct me on how to get there." Kurt pulled out and followed Chandler's directions.

* * *

"This place is fun," Kurt said as they stepped inside. "Very colorful and festive."

They were seated quickly and Kurt slid into the booth they were offered. Chandler slid in next to him. They picked up their menus. Chandler suggested that they split the mixed fajitas, claiming that there was enough for two people. While they waited, they snacked on the chips and salsa the hostess had put on the table when they sat down. When the waiter brought their food out ten minutes later, Kurt agreed with Chandler's assessment.

Kurt filled one of the tortillas and took a bite. "This really is good."

"I'm glad you like it." He ate the one he had prepared for himself.

It didn't take them long to demolish the whole skillet of fajitas. Afterwards, they ate more of the chips and salsa and talked for a little while. Once they paid their bill, they went back out to the Navigator.

"Where to next?" Kurt asked.

"Hmm. I'd like to kiss you."

"If you know of some place we won't get in trouble for parking, it's nice and clear out tonight, we could go stargazing and kiss too, of course."

"We could just go back to my place. My parents won't bother us. We have the concrete patio out back. We could get my sleeping bag out and lie out on it and stargaze."

"Sure." Kurt headed towards the Kiehl's house.

After they got there, it didn't take long to get everything set up. They lay down and snuggled up. They spent the rest of the evening talking and kissing as they gazed up at the stars together.


	8. Chapter 8

Friday morning, Kurt woke up full of both dread and excitement. When he got to school, he noticed that quite a few of the seniors weren't really paying attention.

By the time lunch rolled around, Kurt had too much nervous energy pent up and took the lunch he had packed outside to his Navigator and rolled the windows down. Sam texted him asking him where he was. A few minutes later, he joined Kurt. He pulled his sandwiches out of his letter jacket pocket and got in the passenger seat.

"Too nervous to eat?" Sam asked.

"Pretty much. I have the grilled cheese I made for breakfast but didn't eat and a bottle of water."

"Eat it. You'll feel better."

"I don't think so, well maybe I'll physically have more energy. The whole thing is just so nerve-wracking. I want to go to New York so badly, but at the same time I don't want to leave my dad behind. And I don't want you to be so far away that I won't get to spend time with you anymore. It's bittersweet no matter what the letters say this afternoon because you're going to move to Tennessee when school gets out."

"I know. I want to go back and be near my family, but I don't want to leave you behind either. But I honestly don't see a life for me in New York City. It was fun for a few days last year when we went to Nationals, but I don't like the noise and the crowds. I felt claustrophobic every time we were out walking in the crowds alongside the skyscrapers. The idea of getting in an underground train and riding for long periods of time on a daily basis just does not appeal to me. On $10 an hour in New York City, I can live in a tiny room with a roommate. In Tennessee on the same income, I can buy a 2-bedroom place with a little land and my mortgage will be a third of what you'll pay in rent. It won't be fancy, and it will probably need some work, but I can do that in my free time."

Kurt nodded while swallowing the bite in his mouth. "And I'm glad that you're headed somewhere that you're excited about. I just wish they weren't so far apart."

"Same here. We'll just have to figure out how to visit each other. And Skype's not terrible."

Kurt smiled. "I guess not. I'm just going to miss you."

"Well, we still have a couple of months before the missing is going to start."

* * *

After school, Sam went to work. Kurt and Finn went straight home. Burt and Carole were both home waiting for them. They sat down at the dining room table with the mail.

Finn said, "Rachel wants me to come over as soon as I'm done. Kurt too. She wanted us to open ours together, but I told her we were doing it as a family."

"Alright. Who's going first?"

"You can go first," Kurt said.

Finn opened both of his envelopes, but didn't take them out. He took both letters out next. He unfolded both of them and placed them side by side on the table. "I got into both places. How? I didn't think my grades would be good enough. Oh, my God. I got into the CUNY branch and OSU Lima." He sat stunned for a few seconds. "I did it."

"Congratulations, Finn," Kurt said. "That's great. I didn't even know you had applied to one of the CUNY branches."

"Well, Rachel's been 'New York this' and 'New York that' that since we were there last May. I didn't want to be here if she was going to be in New York. I applied to OSU Lima in case we broke up again. We've broken up lots of times."

Kurt said, "That makes a lot of sense."

"Your turn. You have a ton of envelopes there."

Kurt nodded. "There are six."

Burt goaded Kurt, "Get on with it! Start opening." He smiled at Kurt.

"Okay." He opened them one at a time and put them in two piles. In the end, he ended up with only one in the rejection pile, and that was expected because it was from a school he didn't get a request for additional audition material. He left the NYADA letter to open last. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and slit the top of the envelope open. He pulled out the sheet and read it. "I got in." He looked at it again. "I got in!"

"That's fantastic, kiddo. I know that's what you've wanted."

"It is, but I'm going to look through all of these. We all can." He handed one letter to Burt and one to Carole.

They continued to trade until they had all read each of the letters.

"I didn't realize that you had applied to study fashion anywhere," Burt said.

"I love both. It's such a hard thing to decide. To tell you the truth, I honestly didn't think I was good enough. I hadn't really talked about it because of that. It felt like a shot in the dark. Now, that I have so many acceptance letters, I'm going to have to do some more research and make a final choice. I'll make a chart with all of the information. I'll show it to you both after I finish it."

"That sounds like a smart idea. You do that. I've been putting money away since I got elected for you to go to college. Carole already had a college fund for Finn. With the medical issues and other things, I didn't have much saved up for you as I had hoped, but now I have enough to cover the amount it would cost to send you to OSU for two years. And I'm going to keep saving the rest of this year. Once school is out, Carole's going to take extra shifts when I'm in DC to build up Finn's fund more. By the end of the year, we'll both have enough to cover the equivalent of attending OSU for four years. I'm going to run for re-election this fall. If I win, I'll be able to use that money to pay the house off the rest of the way before my second term ends as well. That way if I decide to not run again, or if I lose, we will have used the money as wisely as possible."

"I'm going to get a job in New York."

"I know you plan to, but going to school is a full-time job and I want you to focus on that. If you meet yourself coming when going, all you'll do is spin in circles. Got it?"

Kurt nodded. His phone rang and he turned it over to see who was calling. "It's Rachel." He answered her.

"Hey, Rachel."

"Are you guys leaving soon?"

"Yes, I just finished opening mine."

She squealed. "Sorry. See you soon!"

* * *

They pulled up and parked in her driveway. She opened the door before they managed to touch the doorbell.

"Come on in!" she pulled the door open wide enough to let them walk past her. "We're sitting in the living room."

Kurt took his coat of and hung it on the coat tree in the foyer and followed Rachel to the living room. He sat down. Blaine came into the room from the hallway that led to the bathroom.

"Why is Blaine here?"

"Because he's been a part of planning my New York dream as well. I know the two of you are broken up right now, but just as Finn and I have had our ups and downs, I figure that this is just a blip that you'll tell stories about at your 50th Anniversary party."

"Rachel, that's not going to happen. I already told you that, but you if you want to know why, you'll have to get permission from Blaine for us to talk about the issues, just the three of us."

"What the hell, Dude? What about me?"

"I don't want anyone else to know. And if you know, you'll have to try to keep it a secret."

"Good point. You three can go downstairs and talk. I'll pour drinks and get the snacks out."

"I don't want to do this." Kurt looked at Blaine. He looked back at Rachel. "I'd rather you just take my word for it. There is nothing that can be said or done to change my mind." He turned back to Blaine. "It's up to you. Do you want to go downstairs and listen to me say why it's over between the two of us? If we go down there, you're giving me permission to say exactly what I think and exactly how I feel about it. I want this to be in the past and stay there. I've moved on. It's time for the two of you to do the same."

"Do I get to say what I think and how I feel?" Blaine asked.

"Sure," Kurt said.

"Fine."

"Is Hiram home?" Kurt asked.

"Yes, why?"

"If Blaine agrees, I'd like him to be a neutral party."

He shrugged.

Rachel got up and brought Hiram back. She explained the situation to him.

"Sweetheart, you really should just accept Kurt's statement. If he feels that whatever Blaine did was worthy of breaking up with him then that's his choice."

"But Daddy, Kurt didn't break up with Blaine. He says that Blaine broke up with him, but Blaine says that breaking up with Kurt was never his intention."

"This really doesn't make sense, Sweetheart."

"That's why you can listen and be a neutral party. You can take notes and ask questions. Help them work out their differences."

Hiram said, "Kurt doesn't seem interested in re-establishing their relationship."

"But maybe once he hears what Blaine has to say, he'll understand and he'll reconsider. They were together for a year and made a lot of plans for the future. Surely, they deserve a chance to work through this."

Kurt said, "I will only agree to this if Hiram signs a confidentiality agreement like he does with his clients. Blaine's 18 too. He can sign for himself. You'll sign too, Rachel. You're a huge gossip. I don't want this spread around school."

"Sure. Give me a few minutes, and then the three of you can come to my office. Give Finn something to do while we talk besides just standing in the kitchen."

"Yes, Daddy." She set Finn up in the den with the remote.

He flipped through the sports channels until he found something he liked.

* * *

The four of them sat down in Hiram's office and began to talk after they had all signed the confidentiality agreement.

"I'll start, if that's okay," Blaine said.

The other three nodded.

"I didn't intend for the song I sang to mean that I was breaking up with Kurt. I was angry. It was Whitney Houston week and I chose an angry song of hers to sing."

"That's starting in the middle from my perspective," Hiram said. "I don't know why you were angry."

"Kurt was cheating on me by texting with this guy named Chandler that he met at the music shop."

"I wasn't cheating on you."

"Stop. Let's set some ground rules. I need this story to be told from the beginning to the end."

Kurt started with when they met and told a brief version of everything until the point when Blaine accepted the role of Tony. He paused here and there to give Blaine a chance to add things, but he didn't say much.

"Wait, so Blaine had agreed with the seniors in Glee to not audition for Tony, but then read for the part when asked and accepted it when it was offered?" Hiram asked.

"Yes," Kurt responded.

Rachel said, "I didn't know about the guys' agreement. I asked Finn to audition, but he turned me down. I didn't know it was because he had agreed not to. Kurt gave Blaine flowers. I thought he was okay with it. You never acted angry."

"I put my best foot forward and supported Blaine. It wasn't his fault that Coach Beiste and Artie were effeminophobic in their comments about me." He went on to explain how he had eavesdropped.

"I see," Hiram said, looking perturbed about what the two teachers had said about Kurt. "Keep going."

"Why don't you two explain the virginity pact since I wasn't privy to that until four days ago?"

"Virginity pact?" Hiram's voice nearly cracked.

Rachel answered, "Artie said that Blaine and I weren't doing a good enough job acting like we were in love. He suggested that we explore our sexuality."

"That's insane!" Hiram insisted. "Method acting is a legitimate way to improve acting skills a lot of the time, but this is not one of those times. So, how did this play out?"

"I tried to seduce Finn, but ended up blurting something out that gave it away. He got upset."

"Rightfully," Hiram said.

"I know. I went to him a few days later and apologized. I told him that I was wrong. He forgave me."

"And you, Blaine?" Hiram asked.

"Um," he stammered.

"This is where that confidentiality is of utmost importance. You'll understand why."

"I understand," Hiram said. "Rachel will NOT say a word."

"I won't," she repeated.

"Blaine and I went out to Scandals with Sebastian, who is one of the Warblers."

"Scandals is a gay bar," Hiram added for Rachel's benefit.

She nodded.

Kurt continued, "He drank one beer. He danced with Sebastian pretty much the whole time we were there. When we left, he seemed to be far too drunk for having just consumed the one beer, but I just went with it." Kurt explained what had happened in the parking lot and in the backseat of Blaine's car.

Hiram was outraged. "That was attempted sexual assault, Blaine. There's no doubt. If Kurt's account is accurate, there is no other word for it."

"Once I got loose and got out, he got out too. He stomped off and he apologized sarcastically." Kurt used finger quotes. "'I'm sorry for trying to be spontaneous and fun.' And then he walked off. I had to go after him to get him in the car still because he was threatening to walk home in the dark. I had taken his keys when he accepted the beer he drank."

Rachel looked heartbroken. Tears began to fall from her eyes. "You did that? And then apologized to me the next evening before we went on stage? You apologized to me for not having succeeded? For letting me down? I think I'm going to throw up." She got up and ran into en suite half-bath and shut the door.

They sat in silence until Rachel came back out and sat back down where she had been.

"The next night I ended up apologizing to him for not being the gay bar superstar he was obviously looking for. The best I got out of him was that I was right about our first time not being in a car like that and that he was sorry that he was drunk. I still maintain that if he just drank the one beer that he would not have been _that_ drunk after all that dancing. He knew what he was doing. Anyway, moving on… for Christmas he gave me this cute promise ring made out of gum wrappers and recited some promises to me, which he didn't keep."

"Like what?" Blaine asked, indignantly. "How did I break any of those promises?"

"I'll get to that. For Valentine's Day, I started getting Secret Admirer gifts and I attributed all of them to Blaine. Everyone in Glee thought he was so romantic. He knew that I thought they were from him because I thanked him for each one of them. It turned out that they were from someone else. I never said that I found out who it was because I didn't want to start problems, but it really hurt that someone else would go to all that trouble to tell me that they cared about me and Blaine took the credit and did nothing himself. I guess since he thought that I thought _he_ was the Secret Admirer that he didn't have to do anything else."

"Is that true, Blaine?"

He shrugged. "He never said the person identified themselves and he was so excited. I just went with it."

"That's really lame, Blaine," Rachel said.

"Back to slightly before all that. At the Lima Bean a couple of weeks before that, Sebastian came in and let the cat out of the bag about how he and Blaine had been in contact for the three months since we had gone to Scandals with him. That's important to know when we get to what happened recently." Kurt explained about Chandler and the texts and what happened in Glee Club.

"I told you I wasn't breaking up with you that day."

"Well, then you should have chosen something besides a breakup song to sing to me after falsely calling me a cheater in front of all of our friends."

"Like I said, I was upset. It was Whitney week. I chose a Whitney song that expressed my anger."

Undeterred by Blaine's, explanation, Kurt said, "Back to the broken promises. You said you'd kiss me anywhere and any time I wanted. You haven't even held my hand at school, much less kissed me. You said you'd support me, even if you knew I was wrong. Instead, you wouldn't even listen to what I was saying – or to reason. We're not right for each other, Blaine. I don't make you hot under the collar unless you need 'experience' to make yourself a better actor. You were skipping our dates. That's not the behavior of a person in love. That's the behavior of a person fulfilling an obligation. I want to be something more than that to someone. I want to be the person that someone can't wait to tell something funny that he saw or heard. I want to be the person that someone comes to when he's hurt and just wants the comfort of my arms around him. I want to be the person someone just wants to be with without a reason. I want someone who sees me as amazing addition to his life, not as an afterthought or an audience. It's been nearly two weeks and I've done a lot of thinking. I don't have to be in a relationship to _be_ someone. And that's what I feel like I became after we started dating. I became 'Blaine's boyfriend'. That's what I was trying to get you to understand that day in my room, but you ran off angry and didn't listen at all."

"Those texts weren't right."

"If that's how you feel, then you cannot honestly say that you texting Sebastian for over three months without my knowledge was 'right'. You say the texts were 'family friendly'. And maybe they were, but the fact is that you kept your friendship with him a secret from me. If you say that texting Sebastian wasn't cheating, then my texting wasn't cheating either. We could have discussed where the line was between being silly with ridiculous puns and actual flirting is. We could have discussed a lot of things, but we didn't. You walked out, went home, planned an angry confrontation song, practiced it, came in the next day, and performed it. That wasn't an oops-I-got-really-upset-and-lashed-out-immediately performance. That was planned and practiced to perfection. You humiliated me intentionally."

Blaine didn't say anything.

Hiram said, "Let's talk about these texts. Kurt says that Blaine texted Sebastian for three months without his knowledge. How long did you text Chandler for, Kurt?"

"Two days. Rachel saw the texts – all of them."

"And I told him that I thought he was cheating on Blaine because he said the texts made him feel good. I told him that Blaine should make him feel good, but then he told me that Blaine scheduled their make-outs and that he never said anything complimentary to Kurt. I didn't know what to think about that, but I still think the texts were wrong."

"I can see your point, Sweetheart, but let's discuss the nature of the texts between Blaine and Sebastian."

"Kurt liked Chandler. I never liked Sebastian like that."

"I had spoken to Chandler for less than two minutes. I don't think it's actually humanly possible to LIKE someone that way in less than two minutes. Did I think he was friendly? Sure. Did I think his texts were funny? Of course. They were like 6th grade humor all over again. 'Are you an astronaut? You're out of this world.' – isn't exactly an adult pick-up line. It might be funny and flirty, but it's certainly not serious or even remotely sexual. Sam read those texts. Rachel read them. Sebastian flat out told me that by the end of the school year that he would have you and I'd have a Lima Bean apron. You told me that I was cheating because I enjoyed Chandler's compliments. With all of us as witnesses, tell me the truth. Didn't you enjoy the attention from Sebastian? It fed your ego that he flirted with you and not with me."

Rachel said, "Before you answer that, I'm confused. I know I was there at the Lima Bean, but I was caught up in talking about Michael Jackson. Blaine and Sebastian texted for three months? What on earth could have talked about for three months? You gave him our set list, which we forgave you for after the slushie incident. We all figured that was worse punishment than all of us being angry with you, but I had never stopped to think how long you two had been talking. I think that was cheating too. If you went behind Kurt's back and maintained a relationship with a guy who actively put your boyfriend down and flirted with you constantly, I'd call that cheating."

Kurt pointed out what Blaine had said. "He told me that it wasn't cheating. That it was nothing. That they were just friends. So, according to him it wasn't cheating. I saw no reason why me getting silly texts from Chandler would be considered cheating. I told you so that day."

Rachel's brows furled as she thought. "So, Blaine, you said that you hadn't been cheating with Sebastian?"

"Right," Blaine answered.

Hiram cut in. "This is where we get to the nitty gritty. According to Blaine's own guidelines, the relationship he maintained with a guy who had made his sexual intentions clear was not cheating. So, Kurt was right in his answer to you, Sweetheart. Blaine had clearly told Kurt that his behavior with Sebastian was not cheating. Therefore, what Kurt was doing was not cheating. I don't honestly think that what Kurt was doing was cheating anyway, but since Blaine had delineated that his secret relationship of over three months was not cheating, Kurt's secret friendship of two days was not cheating."

"Thank you, Hiram," Kurt said.

Blaine rolled his eyes. "The texts between me and Sebastian were all family friendly."

"Blaine, enough. Rachel has seen all of the texts from Chandler. She knows they were family friendly too. Silly puns are not R- or X-rated. Just answer the question you were asked before Rachel clarified the situation. Did you or did you not enjoy the flirtatious and complimentary things that Sebastian said to you, whether in writing or in person?"

"Of course. Everyone likes being complimented."

"You claimed I was cheating because I liked the way Chandler's texts made me feel. Sebastian's texts and attention made you feel good too. You just didn't like it when the situation was reversed. Either that or your just being so obtuse that you can't see the parallels. You say you didn't like Sebastian _that_ way. I hadn't known Chandler long enough to know if there was even the potential to like him _that_ way."

Blaine relented. "Fine. You weren't cheating."

"Thank you. Now, would you like to tell me why you had started cancelling our scheduled time together and turning me down to go places with me, like the music store that day? The truth?"

"All it's been for months is 'New York this' and 'New York that'. Every conversation involved what you were going to sing or wear for your NYADA audition or something about New York. I felt like all you could think about was getting away from here – from me. I felt like I was losing you. I was practicing what it was going to be like without you."

"Blaine," Hiram interrupted, "that's blame shifting. You were jealous. You were angry that Kurt was thinking about his future and you were being passive-aggressive. You were distancing yourself and then getting angry that he was spending less time with you. That's not an adult way to behave or a healthy way to treat your partner. Jealousy destroys a lot of relationships. And anger, even more. It sounds to me like Kurt is right. The two of you don't seem to have a very good track record of communication and the most common form of settling differences has been for Kurt to acquiesce. You could have very negatively impacted his ability to get into college by taking the lead role in the only production the school has managed to actually pull off in the four years that he's been there." He turned to look at Rachel. "And Sweetheart, you sabotaged the election for Senior Class President and kept Kurt from winning, however benevolent your motives may have been. To be honest, I'm not sure that you're much of a friend to Kurt either from what I've heard today."

Rachel nodded sadly. It was the first time that Kurt had ever seen her actually look remorseful.

She said, "I'm sorry, Kurt. I didn't think. I was trying to do anything so you'd win. It was wrong. I never should have run against you. I should have helped you from the very beginning. I run headstrong into a situation and I don't realize the damage I've done until later, and by then it's too late to fix it. I need to learn to think before I act or speak. It's just so hard. I really do love you and I'm sorry."

Kurt nodded. "I know, Rachel. You need to consider that you have an almost pathological need to beat me at everything even when we are not really in competition for anything. You've had besting me as your goal for years and there is less than a 1% chance that you and I would ever audition for the same role. What on earth could be both be? Tree number six? Dancing and singing flower number seven? Seriously, we would never, ever be in direct competition for a role in a musical or a play, unless it's such a background part that our gender is of no consequence. You have been featured in nearly every competition. You have been given an unfair 'default' lead position for three years. Our very first year, you dropped out to do _Cabaret_. When April wasn't able to sing the second song at the Invitational, Santana should have been given her part and you should have taken Santana's. She had been to every rehearsal and she could have sung that song just as well as you did, but you walked in and offered to take the lead. What a hardship!" Kurt rolled his eyes. "You said that being friends with us meant more to you than being a star, yet you took the lead. Contradiction much? You know what you did to Sunshine. You couldn't stand the fact that she might have gotten the lead at competitions instead of you. You even tried to take Blaine. You knew I was in love with him. And you asked him out on a date. I've lost count of how many things I wanted that you swooped in to try to take for yourself. Be honest, really honest – if Blaine had actually been bisexual, would you have ever gone back to Finn?"

"That's a hard question."

"Life's full of hard questions, Rachel," Kurt said.

"Truthfully, probably not. Blaine's interests align with mine and he and I sound great on musical theatre pieces and even contemporary songs."

"Thank you for being honest. I think part of this boils down to the fact that you still have a low-level crush on Blaine. And since you see him as a great partner for you, you've transferred that to me. You see yourself in my place and can't see why I wouldn't do anything to keep him."

She sat for a few minutes and reflected, staring blankly at the wall. Her eyes refocused. "You're probably right. I didn't know most of what you said today. You've kept your dirty laundry in the closet."

"Which is where it belongs, in my opinion. Relationships are private to me. I may be outgoing, but I'm not an open and sharing person. The only reason I agreed to this is because I felt like if we didn't get this out in the open, you were going to hound me, even in New York, to get back together with Blaine. I made everyone sign a confidentiality statement. That should give you an idea of how hesitant I am to share personal information."

"Yes."

"So, are we done here then?" Hiram asked. "As the neutral party, I'm supposed to state facts. As I see it, Blaine did several questionable things in their relationship as friends and boyfriends, but what supersedes all of those is the absolutely wrong attempted sexual assault. Another is his propensity for double-standards, meaning that he allows himself to behave in ways that he does not find appropriate for Kurt to behave. Another issue is that publicly humiliating someone is never appropriate. And it is almost never recovered from in my experience. And beyond that, what he called Kurt out for was untrue. I can't say that in my lifetime I've ever known of a relationship to bounce back from something like that. And lastly, the passive-aggressive method of dealing with problems is completely ineffective as well as hurtful."

Blaine made no rebuttal.

Hiram continued. "Kurt, in all honestly, my response to you in this is that perhaps some counseling could help you improve your self-worth so that you never feel the need to stay with someone who doesn't respect you. Love, lust, and other feelings can't replace respect."

Kurt nodded.

"And my neutral response to the original request to arbitrate – Rachel, you need to learn to listen to people when they tell you that they have reasons for their decisions. You need to let it go and stop being an interfering busybody. Your residual interest in Blaine has obviously overshadowed your ability to be a good friend to Kurt. You need to think about where you want to go from here. I think it might be possible for you to be friends with both of them, but only if you can move past your insistent belief that they are destined to be together. It's fun to think about as a teenager – falling in love and finding 'the one', but reality says that there are lots and lots of people in the world that you can be friends with and others you could be more than friends with. It's all about how and where you decide to live your life. You really are showing immaturity by pushing Blaine and Kurt to stay together because of some childish notion of 'soulmates'."

She nodded. "I should have listened to Kurt. I should have told Blaine that I wasn't taking sides or participating in any type of meddling."

"That's true," Hiram said. "My non-neutral response is that I am sadly ashamed of some of the things you've done. I hope you take time to reflect on your behavior the last few years and find the places where you lost your way and learn from your mistakes. You're reaching adulthood, and you're going to be faced with more and more challenges. Cheating isn't the way to win. The fact that you admitted that if you would still be with Blaine, if you could, doesn't bode well for your relationship with Finn. You may love him, but I'm not sure that you are in love with him the way you need to be to marry him, as is your current intent. What happens when you move to New York City and find someone who enjoys the same things you do, eats the way you do, loves to exercise, dance, and go to shows? Finn is not _that_ guy. What happens when you meet a lot of guys who share your interests? You and I will further discuss your relationship with Finn in private."

"Yes, Daddy. I have a lot to think about, but speaking of Finn, he's upstairs waiting for me to open my NYADA letter." She stood. "I know that Kurt said he had something else to do this evening."

"I do."

"Well, as we agreed, nothing said in here will be shared with anyone else," Hiram said, with a firm, serious tone as he met each of their gazes.

The other three nodded.

* * *

LeRoy came in from the garden to join them. The six of them sat around the table, set with the snacks and drinks in the middle. Rachel picked up her envelope and carefully ran the letter opener along the top. She put the letter opener and envelope down and kept the letter in her hand. She slowly unfolded the sheet of paper. She dropped it on the table like it had burned her hands.

"I didn't get in." She picked it back up and looked at it again. This time, she broke down sobbing. "I didn't get in."

No one knew what to do.

"How could I not get in? My grades are nearly perfect. My audition went well."

"Sweetheart, nothing is ever a given. That's why Dad and I tried to talk you into applying more than one place."

"But NYADA is the best. I want to be the best."

"And you can be, Buttercup," LeRoy said. "What does the letter actually say?"

She handed it to him to read.

When he finished, he said, "It doesn't give a reason, not that I expected it to. But there's nothing stopping you from calling and asking if there is something that could be done to improve your chances of getting in when you re-audition."

She looked in the envelope for anything else, finding it to be empty. "I can't wait a year. I'm meant to be in New York this summer."

"You can still move to New York, Sweetheart. Get a job. Take dance classes and acting lessons. Start auditioning for the experience. You can re-audition for the spring semester. There's always a person or two who can't hack a rigorous program. You can take their place when they quit at the end of the first semester."

"Did you open your letter, Kurt?" she asked, her tone of voice expecting him to say that he hadn't.

"I did." He took a deep breath and said, "I got in."

"No!" she shrieked. "How could you get in and I didn't?"

"You know that I don't have that kind of information, but I do need to get going." He stood and left.


	9. Chapter 9

Kurt drove home. Once he was inside, he found Carole and Burt in the kitchen.

"Rachel didn't get into NYADA."

"Oh, wow," Carole said.

"It was an interesting visit to say the least."

"I bet," Burt said.

Kurt added, "I think we need to move family dinner to much later tonight or cancel. She's not going to want Finn to leave."

"Dinner's already actually done. Why don't the three of us just sit down and eat together? Finn and Sam can eat whenever they get back. I know you have plans for the evening."

"Sure. That's fine," Kurt said.

* * *

Chandler opened the door and immediately hugged Kurt. "I got in to NYU!"

Kurt hugged him back. "That's great. I'm really excited for you." He looked over Chandler's shoulder and didn't see anyone. "I got into NYADA." He kissed him and hugged him again.

"Here, let me help you with your bag or something, so you can hang your coat up." Once it was hung up, he said, "That's better. I have my letters down in my room. Come on."

"Where are your parents?"

"Oh, they're sitting on the swing in the backyard, enjoying the spring weather."

Kurt followed him down the hall. He sat his bag down and took his letters out. They sat on the bed side-by-side and swapped stacks. Chandler had applied to four places and gotten into all of them.

"Do all of those places have musical theatre programs?"

"No, but I figured if I didn't get into a musical theatre program this year that I could go and take whichever classes I could transfer to a musical theatre program and apply to transfer for next year."

"Good plan. I don't know what to pick."

"I thought you'd go for NYADA since you got in."

"Part of me wants to, but part of me wants to go to Parson's or FIT. I got several financial aid package offers. And FIT is pretty affordable to start with. NYADA is super expensive. I did get offered a partial scholarship, but it's still really pricey. I'm going to make a spreadsheet with the information from each school so I can compare everything more evenly."

"You could choose NYADA and do a double major maybe."

Queenie came into the room and hopped up onto the bed with them. She sat at the end of the bed observing for a few minutes.

"I could, but that would be costume design, not fashion design. The job opportunities would be completely different. I have a lot of research to do. At least we get a month to make up our minds." He handed Chandler's letters back and put his own back in his bag.

Chandler put his back on his desk before climbing back onto the bed with Kurt. "You're right. We have some time to think about it, but the big news is that we both got into schools in New York City like we wanted. And we have choices. Choices! More than one school is offering us places. It's really exciting."

"It is. It really is."

"You're not as enthusiastic as I had thought you would be."

Queenie slowly approached Kurt and wriggled her way in between the two of them and plopped down. Kurt began to stroke her fur gently.

"Rachel didn't get into NYADA. She's really upset."

"I bet. Don't let that get you down. You worked hard on your outfit and your song. And I told you that Madame Tibideaux was more complimentary of your performance than Rachel's. Madame Tibideaux's tone of voice is difficult to read. I struggled to tell whether what she said was meant as a compliment or a criticism, so I didn't say anything."

"What did she say?"

"Something about how much time Rachel must have put into perfecting her imitation of Barbra. Rachel thanked her and took it as a compliment, but when she praised you, she said something about how Hugh Jackman would like what you had done with the song as much as she did – like your presentation of the song was unique and you brought something new and fresh to the song. It had a completely different feel to it than what she said to Rachel."

"She's been called a 'Barbra wannabe' or variations of that for several years."

"Ooh. I didn't know that."

"How about we stop talking about her and we kiss and snuggle and talk about New York?"

"Mmm, three of my favorite things."

He slid down the bed a little and Kurt mirrored his actions. Queenie took that as her cue to curl up at the foot of the bed. They kissed for a while and then snuggled up together. Kurt traced patterns on Chandler's hand.

"Mmm. I really like that. It's like the perfect point between arousing and relaxing. It feels too good to fall asleep, though."

"I brought my drawings with me. When we get up, we can look at them."

"Ooh, that sounds fun." He leaned forward enough to kiss Kurt

* * *

So, I have this plan with an elevated floor built just like floor would be in a house. The bed slides under in the center and two work surfaces slide out on each side as well. Obviously, the bed has to be slid in to be able to sit at the work areas."

"I like that one a lot." He took the binder and looked at the drawing closely. "You're really good at this type of drawing."

"Thanks."

Chandler flipped to the next page.

"This one has the bed on top with the work stations underneath on the ends. There's room to put a sofa underneath and it could face a TV. I'd put curtains up around the top or maybe build walls that aren't completely solid. I'm not sure. That one's not quite finished. I'm not super thrilled with the idea of sleeping up high like that either, but it does allow for less work. There would be no need to constantly put the bed in or pull one of the work tables out. Everything could be used at any point in time with no need to move stuff around all the time."

"I'm not sure what I think of the lofted bed part either. I've seen quite a few of them in photos of dorm rooms. They're a lot higher up than bunk beds to be able to walk underneath them. I'd have to be 100% convinced that it wouldn't creak and rock. I think I wouldn't sleep very soundly if it did."

"Me neither. That version also requires stairs, which seem like a pain to build. The raised floor area seems to be the least difficult idea so far. I started several others, but I never got that far into them before I ran into a fatal flaw of some sort like nowhere for a desk or nowhere to store clothes."

"Keep working on this one. I think it really does have the most potential, like you said. Where are you thinking of getting the work tables or the cabinets?"

"I've been looking at Ikea online. That's something we could do this weekend. We could go and browse in person and go shopping at the outlet mall. Or maybe just browsing and brainstorming."

"Sounds fun. I do still have a couple of places I'd like to take you in Toledo too some time."

"Sure. You know I'm up for anything. We could stop at thrift stores too. I could still use some additions to my summer wardrobe since I won't just be working in the shop and sitting around at home working on _Pip, Pip Hooray!_ like I did last summer."

"What's _Pip, Pip Hooray!_?"

"Oh, it this musical I wrote about Pippa Middleton."

Chandler paused for a moment to think. "Prince William's wife Kate's sister?"

"That's the one."

"Is it finished? Can I read it?"

"It's finished. I have the songs written, but only the melodies. I don't know how to orchestrate music. I'd need help for that part. And you can read it if you want to. I'll bring it tomorrow morning."

"Sounds fun. I can read it on the way back maybe and you can tell me about the process. I write stories and short plays, but I've never tried to write a full-length novel or musical. Before we keep talking, which I really enjoy by the way – my parents got a movie for us to watch together. I hope that's okay."

"Sure. You're parents are really nice. They've been really accepting of me."

"Why wouldn't they be? What's not to like about you?" He kissed Kurt. "And they're happy for me."

"I'm happy that they're happy," he teased. "That means that you're happy with me."

"I am. Very." Chandler sighed thinking about the next morning. "I really dislike when we have Saturday morning games. I'm glad you're coming though."

"Maybe it won't be so bad if you think about us going shopping afterwards."

"That will be fun. I'll think about that when I have to get up at the crack of dawn to get ready and go practice before I ride the bus 90 minutes to go play in Westerville."

"I should leave so you can get some sleep."

"You just got here. There's a movie."

"Right. You just look so sleepy and cute all snuggled up on me like this."

"You're comfy."

"Mmm." Kurt kissed the top of his head. "If you say so."

"I do."

Kurt ran his hand along Chandler's arm. Kurt intentionally relaxed his neck muscles, which were still tight from the stress of the day. He closed his eyes and took in the sound of Chandler's relaxed breathing, the feeling of Chandler relaxed in his arms, and the knowledge that Chandler just enjoyed being with him. They were the very things he had mentioned earlier that he wanted. _What's not to like about you?_ popped to the forefront of his thoughts. _I have what I've wanted_. He smiled and placed soft nuzzling kisses in Chandler's hair.

About ten minutes later, Sharon knocked on the door twice. "Movie time. Come on out, guys."

Chandler said, "Coming, Mom." He tipped his head back and gently guided Kurt's face towards his and kissed him.

* * *

Kurt sat on the end of the sofa. Chandler sat down next to him. It didn't take long before Queenie made herself at home on Kurt's lap.

Sharon put _Tintin_ in and pressed play. "James grew up reading these books. He read them to Marlene and then again to Chandler."

Kurt said, "I've read them too."

She turned the light off as she sat in the open spot at the end of the couch. James sat in the recliner.

Kurt felt Chandler's hand on his thigh. He slid his hand over and interlaced their fingers. He continued to gently stroke Queenie throughout the movie.

When it finished, he told said, "Queenie, my beautiful, I had to go now. Chandler has to go to sleep and so do I. He has a game in the morning and we have to get up early."

"Mrrmpff." She flicked her ears and didn't move.

Sharon just looked at the cat. "She really likes you, Kurt."

Chandler picked her up, so Kurt could get going. Kurt used the lint roller on himself and put his coat on. He had left his bag in Chandler's room and went to retrieve it. Chandler followed him and put Queenie down on the bed. Kurt grabbed his bag and kissed Chandler.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Chandler followed him to the door and waved when Kurt pulled off. He stepped back inside and locked the door. His parents were still sitting where they had been.

His mom said, "We like him, Chandler. Not that you need our approval because you're an adult, but we thought we'd tell you anyway. He's won Queenie over too."

"I got three yeses?" He asked teasingly like he was on _America Got Talent_. "So, I get to move on to the live shows?"

His dad chuckled.

His mom rolled her eyes. "You've always been a live show." Her tone was teasing, but kind. "Kurt likes you. I'm happy for you. I know you've not been willing to put yourself out there before, but you've chosen well, it seems. His family is nice."

His dad asked, "You're thinking of moving into a place with him in New York City, aren't you?"

"Would it be bad if I said that I am?"

"Not really," James responded. "It might be a lot of pressure on a new relationship, but having to share a place with someone else while he also has a roommate would put a lot of strain on the two of you as well. Trying to juggle work schedules, classes, travel time, and lack of privacy where you live. You can only try to get your roommate to leave alone with your boyfriend for a couple of hours so many times in week. I can definitely see the appeal of living with him."

"Me too, but you really need to be certain that you can work when he's around. I saw you do it the other day, but that will be how most of your time will be spent. Both of you will have to work. I'm estimating 10-15 hours a week. Add that to 20 hours a week of classes and time between your classes and another 20 hours a week to do your schoolwork. I'd say another 10 hours of commuting time between wherever you live and either your job or school. Cooking, cleaning, personal care time, eating. Everything takes time."

"I've thought about a lot of those things. I think if I don't live with him, it will be hard to have any real time together. But I know that living together creates its own set of issues like wanting to horse around and watch movies and talk instead of doing our schoolwork. But he's really serious about being successful, so I think we can show the self-restraint it takes to treat our schoolwork as a priority."

"We'll talk about it more. Nothing has to be decided tonight," his dad said.

"Kurt and I haven't even discussed it yet. I'm going to head to bed. Having to be at school at 7:00 on Saturday morning should be a crime."

* * *

"Well, if it isn't Kurt Hummel wearing a North Lima hoodie with what seems to be a baseball player's name on it. Kiehl?" He looked out on the field. He spotted him at third base. "He's a cutie."

"Keep your paws off my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend? I figured he was your cousin or something. What happened with short stack?"

"Do you really care? Or are you just trying to be a pain? I thought you had apologized and we were being civil to each other."

"I did. And I am being civil. You're just tetchy."

"Previous experience with you trying to steal my boyfriend."

"I was never trying to steal your boyfriend." Sebastian plopped down in the seat next to him.

"Why are you even at a baseball game?"

"Ah, well, my boyfriend is on the baseball team. Don't worry. None of the rest of the Warblers will be here."

"Your boyfriend? I thought you were the '20-minute relationship' type."

Sebastian laughed. "Adrien and I have been best friends since we were seven and met in first grade. We've been boyfriends since we were old enough to realize we had _those_ kinds of feelings for each other. One day we'll get married when either France or the US legalizes gay marriage. My bet is on France being first. His grandma and my grandma are best friends. It's a long complicated story of growing up in two countries. I'll spare you the details. Definitely not 20 minutes – more like five years."

"I'm so confused. Does Adrien know about whatever it was that you were playing at with Blaine?"

"Sure. He even answered some of the texts when I was busy. When did you call it off with him?"

"When I realized that he didn't trust me."

"I think it should be the other way around from what I've seen."

"What do you mean?" The first batter from Dalton stepped up to the plate.

"He made good use of that fake ID I gave him. Ask Bear Cub if you don't believe me. He said the two of you email back and forth."

"We do, but what could he tell me? Just tell me yourself."

"I didn't go back to Scandals after that night. I found out about some 18+ places in Columbus that Adrien and I could go. After his attempt, I got in contact with Bear Cub. We're friends now. He can go out with me and Adrien in a way that he never could with you because of your history. Anyway, he told me stories of Blaine's exploits at Scandals. He even told me about what he did for you or Valentine's Day. He was crushed to find out that you were still with Blaine. The only reason he put himself out on the line like that was because he was certain that you and Blaine weren't together anymore."

"Oh. I had wondered, but I never asked."

"You still didn't answer me."

Kurt stood up and clapped when Chandler tagged the runner out at third and threw the ball to the catcher, who tagged the runner from third right before he touched the home plate. The teams switched places.

Kurt sat back down. "I don't feel like I owe you an answer. I've moved on completely. Chandler is not a rebound. I really like him. He's super sweet and not at all like Blaine. I'd rather him never hear Blaine's name. He knows I had a boyfriend before. And he knows that I broke up with him over trust issues. That's it. I don't want to bring dirty laundry from my first failed relationship into my new one."

"I get that. I'm sorry. I'm just too curious for my own good. You seem happier. I'll drop it."

"Thanks. I am happier. I had forgotten what happy felt like. Chandler brought that back."

"Well, I like him already then."

Kurt turned and looked at Sebastian. "This is the weirdest conversation I've had since that night at Breadstix with Dave. What position does Adrien play?"

"Shortstop."

Kurt looked for him on the field. "He's cute."

"I know, but thanks for the confirmation."

"Chandler's up." Kurt watched. One strike, then he knocked it way back to the back of the right field. He rounded the bases and stopped at third. The runners on 2nd base and 3rd base crossed home plate. Kurt clapped for him.

Sebastian smiled. "I like this version of you better."

"Well, you're the only one who knows about this, so I'd like you to keep it to yourself."

"So, he's a secret boyfriend?"

"Yes. Well, no." Kurt jumped up and clapped when Chandler ran across home plate, scoring North Lima's third run. He sat back down.

"Well, that cleared everything up," Sebastian snarked good-naturedly.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Yes, he's a secret from my nosy so-called friends in the New Directions and from Blaine especially. But he's not a secret from my parents. And I've met his parents as well. In two months, everyone in New Directions will be my former high school friends. As far as I know, none of them are headed to New York City, so at that point, I'm free to be me all the time without any busybodies reminding me that I gave up my Disney prince."

Sebastian about choked on his drink. "Nice timing."

"Thanks."

"A Disney prince, huh? Wow, deluded much? More like a narcissistic blowhard limelight stealer who emotes like he's constipated. Gaston. He's no Disney prince. He's Gaston."

"Wow. How long have you been practicing that for epithet for?"

Sebastian chuckled. "A while." He started to sing.

_There's no man in town as admired as you.  
You're everyone's favorite guy.  
Everyone's awed and inspired by you.  
And it's not very hard to see why._

"Shh. People are looking at us."

"Meh. People look at me all the time. You too, for that matter. You dress to draw people's attention. I told Adrien that Blaine was Gaston the first evening after I met him. Adrien and I have rewritten a few of the lyrics to make them fit a bit better, but he's definitely not a Disney prince. That's why he was my chosen mark. His need for constant flattery and praise made him an easy target. All I needed to do was pay him some attention and he'd give up information that could help us beat you. Where I went wrong was not predicting that he would jump in front of the slushie."

"That would have been more predictable if you had known more about what happened at school."

"Do tell." Sebastian jumped up and clapped when Adrien caught a pop fly. He sat down. "I'm all ears."

"When everyone found out about him telling you we were doing MJ, they were livid. He was called a traitor. By jumping in front of the slushie, his traitor status was instantly changed to hero. Honestly, I wish you had just hit my clothes with it and it had been over with. I would have demanded that you pay a leather cleaner to do a good job on it and that would have been that. I've been hit with enough slushies to know that you were aiming at my abdomen, not my face."

"That's true. I didn't really want to hurt you. I just wanted to annoy you."

"You're not really much of a villain are you?"

Sebastian dropped his shoulders and sighed. "No, not really."

"His martyrdom got old fast. So… he's Gaston and you're not a villain, not even a reformed villain. You're just a regular teenager doing dumb things like the rest of us."

"In case you're wondering, you have far too much personality to be one of the Disney princes. I decided that you are Roger Radcliffe."

"Why?"

"He's funny, smart, sarcastic, and a good musician. He cares about people and animals. He just seems to fit."

"Well, I appreciate that you didn't choose one of the princesses."

"I was just being an ass about your clothes. They'd look perfectly fine if you lived in Paris or New York City."

"I think that's the nicest thing anyone besides Chandler has said about me in a long time. Thanks."

They continued to talk on and off as they watched the rest of the game.

* * *

Sebastian and Kurt were talking while sitting in the back of the Navigator with the hatch up when Chandler came running across the parking lot. Kurt stood up. When Chandler got close enough, he kissed Kurt and tossed his stuff into the cargo area.

"We won again!"

"Yes, you did." Kurt hugged him again. "Congratulations!"

Chandler realized that the guy sitting in the cargo area was wearing a Dalton hoodie. "I'm sorry. That was rude of me." He extended his hand. "I'm Chandler."

Sebastian shook his hand. "Sebastian. And coming along slowly across the lot is Adrien, my boyfriend."

"Sebastian wondered if we'd like to join them for lunch. We were talking about food and found out that we all like to try new food. They go to a nice Vietnamese place not far from here that won't break our budget."

"Sure. Sounds interesting."

By then Adrien had finally made it over.

"Adrien, this is Kurt and his boyfriend Chandler."

"Nice to meet you."

"You too," Kurt and Chandler said at the same time.

"Let's head out," Sebastian said.

* * *

As they left the restaurant, Kurt walked next to Sebastian. Adrien and Chandler were talking about baseball.

"Milo," Kurt said.

"Milo?"

"Yes. You're Milo – from Atlantis. I didn't know you well enough to choose a character earlier."

Sebastian smiled and nodded. "I can see that. I even have nerdy glasses I wear when I take my contacts out."

Kurt chuckled.

They stopped at the end of the Navigator. Sebastian had parked a couple of spaces down.

"Thanks for telling us about this place and inviting us," Kurt said. "It was really good." He wrapped his arm around Chandler's waist when he got close enough.

"I'm glad you both enjoyed it. Give us a call some time and we can meet up at one of the clubs in Columbus or at my house and watch movies or something. We'll introduce you to some other gay guys we hang out with that don't go to Dalton."

Kurt nodded. "Sure."

* * *

Kurt pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards Ikea. He was a little nervous about how to deal with Chandler's questions. He wasn't going to lie to him. That much he had already decided on.

"Did you two know each other from when you went to Dalton?"

"No, Sebastian started there this past fall. We met because of show choir. He's the Warblers lead singer this year. So, we know a lot of people in common, but until today, we'd never really spent any time together alone. I didn't meet Adrien until today. He's not a Warbler."

"That makes sense. Adrien is hysterical. He looks a lot like Travis Brody, whose real name I do not know. I hope we didn't make too many people mad with all of our laughing."

"I think we were fine. We weren't being obscene or anything. I don't know who Travis Brody is, but I think Adrien and Sam would hit it off. Of course, the rest of us might pass out from laughing."

"That's true. And Travis Brody was a character in the _Hannah Montana_ movie, which Marlene made me watch with her."

* * *

"This is so much bigger than I had imagined," Chandler said as they walked into the gallery area of Ikea. He reached out for Kurt's hand as they turned into the first showroom. "It's a lot of fun seeing the pieces mixed together an in a natural setting."

Kurt did his best David Attenborough impression. "Here we see the nubile desk lamp in its natural environment. Notice the impressive flexibility of the neck. This lamp can illuminate any part of room with just a twist."

Chandler cracked up.

Kurt took pictures of the tags on the pieces they liked as they went through the store. He didn't really have any idea which ones would be functional until he actually found a place and finished his design.

Chandler walked along more mesmerized than Kurt because he hadn't spent time scouring the catalogue and website.

Kurt wandered through the tables and noticed a couple with drop leaves. He took photos. "These might work better than trying to slide tables in and out from under the raised section."

"They might." At that moment, it dawned on Chandler that Kurt wanted his feedback. He wasn't just pointing out things he liked anymore. Was Kurt thinking about the same thing that he had been? Was Kurt considering the option of the two of them living together in New York? He walked closer to the table Kurt was looking at. "I want to ask you something." He took Kurt's hand again.

"You can ask me anything. You know that."

"Are you planning for the two of us? You're asking me about this table like you want my personal input, not just a neutral person to bounce ideas off of."

"I do want your personal opinion. Did I miss the part where I actually asked you if you wanted to be my roommate? We've been talking about flats and ways to get maximum use of the space. I'm sorry." He looked Chandler in the eyes. "Will you be my roommate in New York?"

A huge grin spread across Chandler's face. "Yes. Absolutely, yes." He threw his arms around Kurt and hugged him excitedly.

"Well, now that we have that solved. What do you think of this table in particular?"

"I think we should definitely keep it in mind. I think it might be more useful than desks that slide out. We could use the space under the lofted floor for storage more easily if nothing slid in and out in the space all the time. We could even put cabinets under the ends and use them for our kitchen stuff since none of the flats I've looked at has any decent kitchen space."

"That's true. I think I need to reconsider my design. With these tables having fold-down sides they could be stored along a wall easily. Let's keep looking. We can look at the kitchen cabinets too. That's a really good idea."

* * *

When Kurt walked into the house, Burt was waiting for him in the living room. "Hey, Bud. I need to talk to you. Let's go out back and sit on the swing."

"Sure." Kurt followed him through the house and out the back. "What's up?"

"There's not a lot of time before the school year ends, and from what Carole seems to be picking up, you want to go to New York before the fall. Is that the case?"

He nodded. "Yeah. It's not that I don't want to be here with you, it's just that I'm ready to get away from feeling like everyone around me thinks they have some say in my life. The girls all think Blaine is perfect. The guys accepted him, but never have accepted me, even now. I'm ready to live my life and I feel like too many people here want to tell me how to live it. None of them are going to accept that I've moved on and that I have a new boyfriend. They're all going to say that Blaine was right and that I was cheating on him with Chandler, when I wasn't. It's been almost two weeks now. I'm happy – happier than I ever was with Blaine. I feel like I deserve to be happy and enjoy dating and having a boyfriend. And they'll just take Blaine's side and I don't want to hear it. I'm held to some kind of standard that none of them has to live up to and I don't know why."

"So, that's why Finn doesn't know about Chandler and you won't bring Chandler over here when Finn's home?"

"Yeah. He'll tell Rachel and Puck and by the end of the day, everyone will know."

"What if I require him to keep quiet about it?"

"Is Finn actually able to keep a secret?"

"I can't answer that, but the answer should be yes. He's 18."

"I get that, and if you're convinced that you can make him keep it a secret, I'll start inviting Chandler over here. We'd more comfortable doing homework here because his room is small and he only has a twin bed. And they have an L-shaped living room/dining room/kitchen, so it's hard to study in there because James and Sharon are usually in one of those rooms doing something. It's a small house."

"I get it. I'll think about it and let you know. I just wanted to make sure that there isn't anything else bothering you. I got over the change in boyfriend. I like Chandler a lot more than Blaine, so it made it a lot easier to get behind your quick switch."

"I asked him to be my roommate in New York today."

"That's a big step."

"I know, but it was either him, potentially Rachel if she goes even though she didn't get into NYADA, or a complete stranger."

"What about the dorms? Don't some of those schools have dorms?"

"They do, but I'd be in a double room with a randomly assigned roommate who could be a total homophobe. I'd have to shower in a communal area on the floor I live on. To get a private bathroom, I'd have to pay even more. It's less expensive to share a flat. Doing all of the calculations is on my agenda for tomorrow. Spread sheets full of data will help me make a final choice."

"I'd like to see it when you get it done."

"Sure. I'd like Chandler to come over and work on his as well, but you'll have to let me know on whether Finn will be here or whether you've come up with a way to keep him to keep my personal information private."

"Okay."

"Oh, and I ran into Sebastian today. I found out a lot of information I didn't know before. I told you he apologized before Regionals. He meant it. He and I have worked out our differences."

"That's good."

"Chandler and I might do some things with him and his boyfriend Adrien."

"Sure, Bud.

"I'm going to head in and get my laundry done. Let me know about Chandler by 10:00, if you can, so I can let him know."

Burt nodded. "I'll do that."

* * *

Later that evening, Finn and Burt came to Kurt's room to talk to him.

Kurt spoke succinctly and clearly, as well as just slightly slower than he normally did.

"Here's the order of how things went."

Finn nodded.

"I went to the music store. I met Chandler. We talked about New York City and auditioning for college for about two minutes. He asked for my number. I gave it to him."

"Got it."

"He sent me silly texts for two days. Blaine said it was cheating."

"That's stupid. He told everyone you cheated on him and looked angry enough to kill something. I don't think I've ever seen anyone that angry while singing."

"Do you remember the words?"

"It was about cheating."

"There are parts that say 'Pack your bags up and leave. I'd rather be alone than unhappy.' And another line is 'Close the door behind you and leave the key.' If Rachel sang a song that said those things, what would you think?"

"That she was super mad and breaking up with me."

"I met with Blaine and told him that I accepted the fact that we were broken up."

"Okay."

"After that, I asked Chandler to go bowling with me and Sam. Not a date. Just going out as potential friends to get to know each other enough to see if I'd want to be his friend."

"Gotcha."

"After that, I decided that I did like him. And I asked him to be my boyfriend."

"Alright. And I can't tell anyone because the people at school don't need to be involved in family business."

Burt spoke up. "That's right. High school is almost over. The two of you are going to move on with your lives and make new friends. You may end up keeping a few of the ones you have, Finn, but Kurt is less likely to because he won't see the people here very often or ever. They don't need to know anything about his private life."

"I get it. Once we finish high school, we'll decide who knows what. But Kurt wants to start that a little early. Can I start it early too? Like if I tell you something, you won't tell anyone at school?"

"Sure, Finn," Burt answered.

"I don't want to marry Rachel anymore. And I don't know what to do."


	10. Chapter 10

After meeting Adrien and getting to know the real Sebastian the previous afternoon, plus Finn’s sudden declaration of calling off the engagement, Kurt had gone to bed the night before without a single thought about preparing for the family lunch he was going to with Chandler. 

He scurried around putting the finishing touches on his outfit before he sat down to start working on the spreadsheets for the college information he needed to gather. He kept an eye on the time and he managed to get the second row of information put in from his letters indicating the financial aid he was being offered, if any, for each school he had gotten into. He turned his computer back off and made one last stop to check his hair again before he went downstairs.

His nerves started to get the best of him as he pulled out because he was going to Chandler's aunt and uncle's house for lunch with Chandler's family. It seemed so soon, but Chandler was super enthusiastic about it and told him not to be nervous because everyone would like him. He was excited to finally meet Janine since he had heard so much about her already.

He decided to stop and get some flowers for her. He bought a small mixed bouquet with brightly colored flowers. 

When he pulled up, he double-checked the address before he got out. He walked up the sidewalk toward the porch, but before he even made it halfway to the house, Chandler opened the door and came bounding out to greet him.

"Are those for Janine?"

"Yes."

"She's going to love that. Come on."

Kurt followed him to the door.

Chandler had him wait on the porch, while he called out for Janine. She came to the door quickly. He moved back and Kurt offered her the flowers.

"Oh, my God. No boy has ever given me flowers before. They're perfect." She smelled the flowers and then reached around Kurt and pulled him into a hug and kissed him on the cheek. She was only an inch shorter than him and looked as much like Chandler as he had said she did. She was wearing a flowing broomstick skirt in jewel tones with a solid deep magenta form-fitting, cap-sleeved shirt. "Come on inside. I'm glad you're here. Chandler has talked my ear off for two weeks straight. I didn't think his assessment could be accurate, but I was wrong. You're gorgeous and sweet too." She was as effervescent as Chandler.

He smiled and blushed slightly.

She called out as they went inside. "Hey, Mom, look! Kurt brought me flowers."

He and Chandler followed her inside.

She practically skipped off to the kitchen in search of a vase. When she got there Dina was already pulling one out from under the sink. She filled it with water while Janine unwrapped the flowers and trimmed them to fit the vase.

"Those are lovely."

"They are." She arranged them in the vase and put it on the counter between the kitchen and dining room.

Chandler introduced Kurt to his uncle while Janine was in the kitchen. "Uncle Tim, this is my boyfriend, Kurt."

"It's nice to meet you," Kurt said, as he offered his hand.

Tim shook his hand and said, "You too. We're glad you could come."

James and Sharon greeted him as well. He followed everyone into the dining room. Dina and Janine came out of the kitchen.

"Hi, I'm Dina. It's nice to meet you,"

"You too."

"Toby should be here any time. We'll go ahead and get everything set up."

Tim, Dina, and Janine started putting food out on the counter.

"We're going to serve ourselves buffet style. I should have asked ahead of time, but do you have any allergies? I can tell you what's in the dishes."

"Nope, no allergies thankfully."

Before they managed to get everything set up, Toby let himself in and introduced himself.

"Hey, Kurt. It's nice to meet you. I'm not around much these days with living in Columbus now, but I do my best to come to family lunches." He walked into the kitchen and hugged Dina. "Hey, Mom. Need any help still?"

"We're good." She hugged him. "I'm glad you could come."

Janine grabbed him. "Look, Kurt brought me flowers!"

"I see. They're really pretty."

"I know. He's sweet."

"So, I've heard," Toby teased.

After he put the fruit salad on the counter, Tim said, "That's it. Let's eat."

Everyone got in line. They insisted that Kurt go first since he was their guest.

Toby teased, "You better take the offer. Next time, you won't be a guest."

Kurt moved to the front. He filled his plate and sat down. Janine sat to his left and Chandler to his right. Once the conversation started to flow freely, Kurt didn't feel so conspicuous anymore. Everyone included him and it didn't take him long to relax.

After they finished eating and cleaned up, they broke out decks of cards and split into two groups and played Poker and Euchre for a while. Afterwards, Dina pulled out a cherry cobbler and vanilla ice cream, which everyone enjoyed. After they finished dessert, Chandler and Kurt said their goodbyes and Kurt drove them back to his house.

* * *

"That was actually fun once I got over my nerves," Kurt said. "I just didn't know what to expect because I've never gone to family meals, but I should have realized that it would just be like eating dinner at your house, but just with more people."

"I'm glad you had fun."

"I did. And I like Janine. She's a lot of fun, but you two totally cannot be Euchre partners next time. Me and Janine. You and Toby. That will make it more fair."

Chandler laughed. "Fine. We'll switch up partners."

They went straight up to Kurt's room when they got to the Hummel's. Kurt had asked Finn if he could use his laptop for the afternoon and he agreed. They took their shoes off and grabbed the laptops and started working on Kurt's spreadsheet. They used Finn's laptop to look things up online rather than switching back and forth on Kurt's.

Once Kurt had the factual information he needed, Chandler used Finn's laptop to start seriously looking for an apartment. Up until that point, both of them had just been looking through major rental company websites to get a general idea of location, prices, and the types of places available.

"Let's make a new spreadsheet," Kurt said. "I think we need to list the different neighborhoods and highlight the pros and cons of each, the rental price averages with the sizes, and the distance from NYU and the places I'm considering."

"Good plan."

They spent the whole afternoon researching and filling in the spreadsheet. Chandler stayed for dinner. They printed out what they had finished and took it down with them and showed it to Burt and Carole.

"These places are all really pricey," Carole said. "It looks a lot like the prices in DC."

"It's probably like this in any really big city. The more people who want to live somewhere, the more landlords can charge for rent," Kurt said.

"We're not done with it yet, but it's a good start. After dinner we're going back to our regularly schedule schoolwork."

Burt chuckled. "When you get it all filled out, show it to me again, alright?"

"I will."

* * *

Chandler had a game Monday night, but Kurt was scheduled to work and couldn't go. He went to Wednesday's game and sat with Sharon. James was at an away soccer game.

Sharon noticed Kurt getting progressively more tense as the game went on. He had started to bounce his knee up and down during the 8th inning.

"Kurt?"

"Hmm?" He turned to look at her.

"North Lima is ahead by 4 and it's almost the end of the 8th inning. What's got you so tense?"

"Oh. Sorry." He stopped bouncing his leg. "The baseball team is going out for pizza after the game and he invited me to go with him."

"Chandler told me. They do this every year fairly early in the season to get the new team members to feel more like a part of the team. It's just supposed to be fun."

"I know." He looked back out onto the field to watch Chandler.

"You can tell me to butt out, but something's bothering you."

"I don't know how to be social like that. I don't want people to make fun of Chandler because of me."

She reached over and put her hand on his knee. "I get it now. I remember Chandler mentioning how McKinley isn't a good place for LGBT students. He hasn't gone into any detail."

"I just don't want to embarrass him in front of his teammates."

"Chandler likes you just the way you are, Kurt. Don't try to be something you aren't. Be yourself."

He took a deep breath and sighed. "That's the most concerning part. I haven't had much experience with being myself leading to a good outcome."

"Well, be yourself to the best of your ability, and then take your lead from Chandler. He's been friends with some of the guys for six years."

Kurt nodded. He turned his attention back to the game. After the game, he waited for Chandler sitting on the edge of the cargo area of the Navigator. Chandler came bounding out and tossed his gear bag in the back. As soon as his hands were empty, he wrapped his arms around Kurt and kissed him. "Ready to go eat pizza?"

"As ready as I'm ever going to be."

Chandler stepped back and looked at him. "Do you not want to go?"

"I do, but I don't at the same time."

He thought for a second. "Nope. It's not coming to me. You'll have to explain it to me."

"I don't want to embarrass you."

Chandler looked genuinely confused. "How would you embarrass me?"

"I don't know. Laugh too loud? Not realize something was funny and not laugh at all? Have nothing to add to the conversation, so I come off as a moron?"

Chandler laughed kindly and stepped closer again. He kissed Kurt. "I already like you. I don't think you'll embarrass me, but even if you did both of those first two things you just listed, it wouldn't change my opinion of you. And you certainly wouldn't be the first boyfriend or girlfriend who sat there and ate in silence. Let's get in. We can still talk while you drive."

Kurt shut the back and they got in. He pulled out and headed towards the pizza buffet.

"Wait? First boyfriend? There are other gay guys who bring their boyfriends?"

"There have been. I know that the only other gay guy on the team right now invited his boyfriend. I don't know if he's coming or not, though."

"There are other out guys at North Lima?"

"Sure. I can think of…" he quietly counted. "Ten. Eleven counting me. One bi guy. I only know a couple of girls that are out, but Janine might know more. The girls I hang out with are mostly her friends."

"So, you've gone to school with openly gay guys and never dated any of them. How has this not come up in all of the hours of conversations we've had?"

"I guess I don't divide people by their sexuality? I don't think of Jared as the gay first baseman. I just think of him as Jared that I've been friends with since I was 12, which is when we met and started playing baseball together."

"That makes sense. It hasn't been my experience, but it does make sense."

"I've been friends with quite a few gay guys for years. You'll meet some of them Friday. You'll see Jared tonight. As for why I've never dated any of the gay guys I know, I told you that I wasn't looking for 'Mr. Right Now'. I've known I wanted to move to New York since before I started high school. I didn't want to end up in the position that a lot of seniors are in, where they start off their adult lives with absolutely broken hearts. Or they end up breaking someone else's heart because they've had to split up with their high school sweetheart. Or they end up trying to do long distance nine months a year. I didn't not date because I didn't have options. I did have options, but I wanted more than a relationship with a predetermined expiration date. I'm an all-in kind of guy and I could never go all-in if I knew there was little hope of the relationship lasting."

"And you picked me?"

"I believe you picked me," he teased. "But yes, there was just something that really drew me to you. We talked about so many things. We just clicked. At first, I thought it was just because I had had a crush on you for so long, but then after we spent so much time talking, I realized that it was more than that for me. And when you asked me, it felt like a risk worth taking."

"I had no idea. I mean I knew you said that you figured you wouldn't start dating until you were close to 20 because you wanted to be settled into where you wanted to be. I just didn't realize that you have other gay friends and that you had actually chosen not to date any 'Mr. Right Now's, as you phrased it."

"I wasn't keeping the fact that I have friends that are gay a secret. I'm not sure how to take what you just said."

"Just as a statement of fact. It's not a judgment call in any way and I don't feel like you kept something from me in some nefarious way. I just never gave it any thought actually. Having gay friends at school just isn't something that comes to mind. I actually think it's really cool that you don't categorize your friends by their sexual orientation. I hope to one day just be Kurt Hummel, not that 'weird gay kid' or a wide variety of less pleasant nicknames that I won't repeat. I would love to be known for something other than my effeminate ways and gayness."

Kurt pulled into the restaurant lot and parked.

"Well, I don't get why people think you're effeminate, but I guess that's 'an eye of the beholder' thing. I don't see you as girly at all." He leaned over the center console and wrapped his hand around the side of Kurt's neck. He gently pulled him towards the center and kissed him. "Definitely sexy though. Let's go eat pizza." He opened his door and hopped out. He waited for Kurt at the end of the Navigator and took his hand before they crossed the lot. Once they got inside, they went and sat with the rest of the baseball team.

Kurt got quite a few compliments on his hoodie. A couple of the girls got up and sat in the chair next to him.

"I'm Rita. I'm sure I know you from somewhere."

The other girls spoke up. "I've got it! I'm Jenni, by the way. I figured it out. He was on the Cheerios and did that epically long Celine Dion song two years ago at Nationals."

"That was me," Kurt admitted. "I'm Kurt Hummel."

"Oh, my God. That was amazing," Rita said. "Jenni and I are Pantherettes." She pointed at two other girls. "So are Alexis and Emily."

The two girls waved.

Kurt waved back.

Rita spoke a little louder than she had been. "He's the guy that did that huge Celine Dion medley for the Cheerios."

"That was fantastic," Emily said.

Jenni agreed, "It really was."

"Thanks!" Kurt struggled with accepting all the effuse praise, but did his best.

Rita asked, "So how did you and Chandler meet?"

"At the music store. We were both looking for music for our auditions."

"That's really cute. And of course, Chandler is all sorts of adorable."

"Hi, Rita," Chandler said, looking around the back of Kurt so he could see her.

"I've tried to convince him several times to go out with me, but he's turned me down very politely every time. You're a lucky guy, Kurt Hummel."

He nodded. "I agree."

The last of the guys and a few more girls came in and sat down.

The waitress came around and put down a stack of cups and plates. "Alright, everyone listen up. You know the drill. If you want a specialty pizza, you'll have to ask me. I'll bring those out to your table. You can't order another specialty until the first two are gone. All of the common favorites are out on the bar. Help yourselves. Drinks are included in your group price tonight. I'll be around to drop off clean plates. If you could be so kind as to put your dirty plates in the dish bin I'll bring out and put in the end chair here that will help since getting to the back area is a little tricky. Enjoy!"

Everyone got up and grabbed a plate and got in line. A couple of guys followed her and asked for specialty pizzas. When everyone sat back down, Rita took the spot next to Kurt.

"I didn't see you cheer this year or last."

"It took up a lot of my time and I needed to work. I ended up sticking with Glee Club instead of Cheerios."

Chandler added, "They went to Nationals last year and they're going back this year."

"Congratulations," Jenni said. She was sitting in her own chair to Rita's other side.

"Thanks." Kurt saw an all veggie pizza get put out on the table. "Are the specialty pizzas to share?" Kurt asked Chandler quietly.

"Definitely. Do you want a slice of that veggie one? I'll grab it for you."

"Yes, two please."

Chandler grabbed the slices and put them on Kurt's plate.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

By the time everyone had eaten their fill, Kurt had been introduced to everyone there. His nervousness had long faded. They settled their bill and Chandler met a a couple of them at the Navigator.

"Saturday we're meeting at the theater at 5:15 for the 5:45 showing. We'll meet inside by the concession stand on whichever side the movie is playing on. If you're not there by 5:30 when we go look for seats, you'll have to find us on your own. I don't want neck-breaking seats down front because we're late."

Everyone nodded and walked back to their own cars. Chandler and Kurt got in.

"You were right," Kurt said as soon as they both had their doors shut. "This was fun. I've never had fun like that in a group. I've always been on edge. Thank you for bringing me."

"I had fun too and I'm glad you came. Hopefully the movie will be funny, but you never know with something like a _Three Stooges_ remake."

They talked on the way to Chandler's. Kurt opened the back. Chandler hugged and kissed him before he pulled his bag out.

"I'll see you Saturday. I wish it could be before then, but we have to be responsible and do our schoolwork. I traded to get Sunday off, so I have extra weeknight shifts. So, Saturday it is." He kissed Kurt again and headed up towards his front door.

Kurt got in and drove home.

* * *

Kurt was sitting out on the front steps at 8:00 Sunday morning. As soon as Chandler turned down the street, Kurt got up and walked down to the sidewalk. He was wearing the red and black plaid jacket that he had worn during "Born this Way", a cream-colored soft cotton henley with a casual black vest, dark charcoal jeans, and his black ankle-high Docs. Chandler pulled off as soon as Kurt fastened his seatbelt.

"Before you ask, you look perfect. That's a great combination."

"Thank you. It's hard to know what to pick when it's a surprise destination."

"You always look good."

Kurt blushed. "I like your outfit too."

Chandler was wearing a pair of light wash blue jeans with a maize and navy small paisley button up under a thick navy sweater with East Coast fisherman vibes to it, and his navy Docs.

"Thanks. I figured if I wore the sweater over the shirt without a jacket, I could wear it one last time before the fall."

Kurt reached out and ran his hand along the sleeve. "It's as soft as it looks. I really like it. I had a great time last night and I'm excited to find out what we're doing today. You are seriously the best date planner. I feel bad that I never plan anything as amazing as you do."

"I think you're just easily impressed," Chandler teased. "Going to the movies is not that amazing."

"It is if you're me. No group of guys has ever included me in anything. So, it was amazing."

"And you don't have to think of anything amazing for us to do because I just like spending time with you. Talking to you is fun. Singing and horsing around with you is fun."

"I will think of something."

"I'm sure I'll love whatever it is."

They talked all the way to Toledo. When they got closer to their destination, Chandler had him close his eyes. He paid the parking fee and found a spot.

"Okay. Open your eyes."

"Oh, this looks fun, but you told me to bring $10 and lunch money. It costs more than $10 to get into a zoo."

"This has been planned for a while, but I was able to add your name to the list, so it's only going to cost $10 to get in. Let's get going."

Chandler grabbed his hand as soon as he came around the back of the car.

"Planned? It's a group outing of some sort?"

"We're meeting up with the PFLAG group that I joined the first summer I came to stay with Marlene. I hadn't been out long and she went with me to the meetings at first, so did Janine on the weekends she came up to stay with us and there was an event."

Kurt's mind flashed back to the meeting with Dave when he returned to McKinley and how he had wanted to start a group, but eventually gave up on the idea when he realized that the only people who would even possibly show up would be the people in Glee. "I've never been to a PFLAG meeting."

"It turned out that several people from the theater camp I went to were members too. You'll like everyone."

Chandler found Marcus quickly and they gave him their money. A few more people showed up and turned their money in. Marcus went to the window and picked up their tickets. In total, 20 people had shown up. Chandler introduced Kurt to people throughout the morning as they moved through the zoo and looked at all of the exhibits. By lunch, Kurt had met everyone. They ate together and talked for a while before they went back to go through the rest of the zoo.

They went through the zoo store a few minutes before closing and met outside to take a group photo before everyone went their separate ways.

Kurt and Chandler drove back to the Hummel's to eat dinner. They talked the whole way back.

"That was so much fun!" Kurt said. "Thanks for including me. I had a really good time. You know so many nice people."

"It is a really nice group. It was an amazingly supportive group when I was certain that I was gay, but didn't know much of anything else. I learned a lot about attraction, sexual orientation identities, and about different types of prejudice that are common, even amongst LGBT groups. I can show you the handouts and stuff some time."

"I'd like that. I've done reading online, but it would be nice to see good information that I could share if the opportunity ever arose."

When they go back to the Hummel's, they were surprised to find that Sharon and James were there, but Sam and Finn were not. They had gone to Puck's to play video games. Everything was nearly ready on the grill and within a few minutes, they all sat down to eat together.

* * *

Kurt and Chandler only saw each other on Tuesday during the following week when Kurt and Janine went to Chandler's game.

On Friday, Chandler picked Kurt up at 6:00 and drove them to Sebastian's house. They dropped off their stuff and changed into clubbing outfits and left at 8:00 to hit up a nice 18+ club.

Once they got inside, Sebastian introduced them to Greg and Braxton, as well as a few other guys that were friends with Sebastian and Adrien. Kurt was somewhat surprised to see Dave there, but he was friendly and talked to him for a few minutes. He introduced him to Chandler before they headed to the dance floor.

Kurt appreciated how much the club looked like ones he had seen in movies and not like Scandals. He and Chandler danced together and turned down other people who tried to cut in. Kurt turned down Sebastian's offer of a drink, but Chandler took him up on it, which made Kurt tense. He couldn't see Chandler trying what Blaine had, but then again, he had never considered that Blaine would do what he had done.

They took breaks from dancing here and there and sat at the booth that Sebastian and his friends were using. They talked to the five guys that sat down with them on and off over the course of the evening. All of them but one were seniors at schools in Columbus. Henry was a freshman at OSU. Jason and Mark were dating. Braxton and Greg were best friends, both single like Henry.

Chandler accepted one more drink and he and Kurt headed back out to dance more. Sebastian teased Kurt about still being the designated driver. Kurt flipped him off where no one but Sebastian could see, which caused him to crack up laughing. They stayed until a little after midnight.

Once they were back at Sebastian's, they all showered and went to bed. Chandler kissed Kurt when he got in bed with him. He turned over on his side and went to sleep. Kurt finally breathed a sigh of relief. He thought back over the course of the evening and never once did Chandler's actions cross any boundaries. Kurt relaxed and fell asleep quickly.

* * *

The next morning, Kurt and Sebastian were the first two up. Kurt was teaching Sebastian how to make American-style pancakes when Chandler came down to the kitchen.

"So, why don't you drink?" Sebastian asked. "I'll just keep teasing you until you give me a real reason."

Chandler came in and sat down at the island.

"Well, sophomore year someone, an adult, gave me Chablis and told me that it was liquid courage. I left it in my locker. I lived every day in fear, so I drank it one morning and ended up really drunk at school, drunk enough to throw up all over our guidance counselor's shoes. She has OCD and had to go to the ER for several decontamination showers before she could stop panicking. I didn't like how out-of-control I felt. I survive by being vigilant and drinking alcohol really doesn't allow me to do that, so it's not likely something that I will revisit until I am over 21 and I'm certain that I'm in a safe environment with people I trust. Plus, the obvious answer now is that my dad is a congressman. Whereas, your dad is the state's attorney. I have the feeling that he could get the charges dropped for you, but people would be thrilled to take photos of me and sell them to the highest bidder. 'Ohio 4th District Congressman Underage Son Caught Drinking in Columbus Club. Details at 11.'"

"As lame as it sounds, I guess I hadn't really thought about that aspect of it. The legal drinking age in France is 18. We were taught to drink responsibly as a skill, I guess. Adrien both started drinking when we were about 14. Just small amounts of wine. I've been drunk before, which is not something I'd care to repeat. But we both know how to pace ourselves and I do enjoy the flavor of alcohol. I guess we need to reconsider. My dad will let us drink here, so maybe we should refrain from drinking when we go out."

Kurt and Sebastian plated the pancakes and Adrien came down just in time to eat with them.

"So, last night we went clubbing and today we're going to embrace our inner child?" Adrien asked.

"That's the plan," Sebastian said. "I looked up things to do in Columbus and COSI was at the top of the list.

* * *

Sunday morning, Janine and Chandler came over. Janine brought her laptop with her. Kurt had set up his and Finn's on the dining room table before they arrived. She set hers up as well.

Once they had all finished their actual homework, they put everything away and made an early lunch before they headed out on their second-hand and junk store adventure for the day.

Janine was dressed similarly to the way she had been the day Kurt had gone to the family lunch. She was wearing dark brown docs and her outfit was still mostly jewel tones, but her skirt had a brown base rather than black. She was wearing a brown corduroy Levi's jacket that matched the boots.

They spent the afternoon combing through the shops looking for pieces that they could use to make some new things out of or to accessorize pieces the already had.

"I've only seen you twice, but you seem to like the '70s style long flowing skirts?" Kurt asked.

"Yes, but I also have quite a few of the late '60s, early '70s knee-length jumper dresses that I wear a lot too. I still wear leggings, either long or capri length, under them. And I have black, dark brown, and white gladiator sandals. They're not identical, but somewhat similar. I wear those in the summer with bike shorts under the dresses. The rest of the year I mostly wear these Docs or the black or dark purple ones I have. I got the brown and black ones from Chandler when he outgrew them. I'm only like a half inch shorter than him, but I wear one size smaller shoe than he does. And the corduroy jacket was his too. I borrowed it so many times, he just let me keep it. I have two other Levi's denim jackets, a black one and a plum one. I found the plum one on eBay. It was in perfect condition – definitely one my unusual finds. When I started looking for a plum jacket to go with my boots, I didn't even realize that Levi's had ever made purple denim jackets."

Kurt came around from the side of the rack he had been looking through. "What about this?" He showed her a sleeveless, knee-length dress that was fitted through the top and fuller starting at the waist with tiny floral patterned on a black background. "It's rayon, so you couldn't put it in the dryer."

"I actually really like rayon dresses because they flow and hang so nicely. I'm used to hanging them up to dry and then touching them up with an iron. It looks like it's too big through the chest, but I'll go try it on. Maybe it could be taken up if everything else fits." She put it over her arm. "Good find."

"What's a good find?" Chandler asked, as he walked up.

"Kurt found a nice dress."

"Cool. I found a couple of necklaces I thought you'd like. You can try them on when you try the dress on. I also found a whole box of new socks we can look through."

* * *

Carole knocked on the open door late that afternoon.

"Hey, Carole. Come in."

Janine stepped out of the bathroom.

"This is Chandler's cousin, Janine. We went shopping as you can see."

She smiled and nodded. "And now you're perfecting your finds, I take it? It's nice to meet you, Janine."

"You too. Kurt's perfecting our finds, mostly. He's taking this dress up through the chest. I'm not quite the right shape for the original."

"He's good at that. I like the dress. It's pretty, but it also looks comfortable. What else did you all find?"

Kurt said, "Well, we all like dress socks and the last place we went to had a box full of new ones, five for $10. So, we all have five new pairs of funky dress socks. They're up on the bed."

Carole went over and looked at them. "Those are really nice. I like the paisley ones a lot."

"Those are mine," Chandler said.

"We also found that other stuff." Kurt pointed to several necklaces, brooches, and buttons."

She looked through them. "I've been out in the gardens planting flowers all day. I'm ordering Chinese for dinner. I brought Finn's towels up from the laundry room and I figured I'd just ask what you want while I'm up here."

They gave her their orders.

"I'll text Kurt when the food gets here."

* * *

Monday afternoon Glee Club was running late due to ongoing arguing about what they were going to perform. Coach Sue and Coach Roz's conflict over the Cheerios had gotten Sue involved in making sure that the Glee Club won. So, her intense meddling to thwart them from ever winning was flipped and her intensity was focused in on making sure that they won, only her idea involved having Kurt dress in drag to best Unique from Vocal Adrenaline and her show stopping performance. She had called Kurt and Mercedes into her office at lunch to inform him that he would be wearing a silver flapper dress and performing as 'Porcelina". Kurt wasn't having any of it and flat out refused.

When she brought it up again during Glee Club that afternoon, he repeated his adamant refusal. The rehearsal devolved into Tina stomping out. He ended up just leaving and going to work the extra long shift he'd given himself since Chandler had an away game that night.

Rachel followed Tina out and first tried to bribe her, but then resorted to an impassioned speech about how she really needed to impress Madame Tibideaux at Nationals in hopes of still getting into NYADA somehow. Santana followed Rachel out, but stayed far enough back that she could hear what was being said.

Once Rachel walked away, Santana approached Tina and offered to let her share the lead on the Troubletones' number if she wanted to join them. Tina accepted her offer.

* * *

The next day wasn't much better. Sue had them wearing welding gear attempting to dance to music from _Flashdance._

Kurt left rehearsal and went home. He made a vegetable and cheese tray to snack on and had it in his room when Chandler arrived. They ate and Kurt told him what was going on in Glee Club.

"It's all insane," Kurt said. "We have slightly more than three weeks to be ready. We all decided that we didn't want to show up unprepared. And yet now that Coach Sue has gotten involved, everything we had talked about is getting tossed to the side. I just want to rehearse what we're _actually_ going to perform and stop with this prop nonsense."

"I'll just be honest with you. If I didn't know you so well I'd think that you were just making up the craziest story you can to say 'Punked!' or something at the end."

"If only I were. Enough of that. Let's get started on narrowing down which areas that we like enough to live in."


	11. Chapter 11

After Chandler's game on Wednesday, he and Kurt slid into the booth side of a table that had chairs on the other side. They had just sat down when Kurt looked up and smiled at Janine as she crossed the room in her Wendy's uniform, which was so far from her normal way of dressing that she just didn’t look like herself.

Even after a month of dating, it still surprised Kurt a little how much she reminded him of Chandler. They had the same color hair, although hers was shoulder length and pulled back into a ponytail, the same build, and very similar eye color – hers having just a few more lighter blue flecks in them. Janine looked so much more like Chandler's sister than Marlene did.

She sat down across from them and sat a tray with three small chocolate Frostys on it in the middle of the table.

"Thanks," Kurt said, as he picked his Frosty and started eating it.

"No problem." She took a bite of her Frosty and sighed. "I have two tons of homework to do when I get off tonight."

"Fortunately we did ours ahead of time, so we have none. Guess what?"

"What?"

"We've made a few furniture decisions," Chandler said. "Styles, not colors yet."

"It's about time," she teased. "I know you two are getting all psyched up about New York City. It's Chandler's favorite topic these days. It's funny because people have mistaken us for brother and sister our whole lives and you already know that we're alike in a lot of ways. We have similar taste in music, clothing styles, and movies. But if I were forced to move to New York City, I'd be panicking right about now. Too many people and too much noise. I like it here in Lima where it's nice and calm. I can hear cows mooing in the distance. "

Kurt laughed. "I can hardly wait. Five weeks and three days until graduation. Then, we're off to Washington, DC for a week to be tourists."

"Marlene is thrilled," Janine said. "She's been talking about it for the past week, ever since we finalized the plans. And I'll never say no to playing tourist in a big city. I just don't want to live in one."

"So, for our baking on Friday…" Chandler said, changing the subject to the reason for them stopping by to see Janine. "We're going to get supplies tomorrow when Kurt gets off from work."

"It seems insane that we're going to bake for graduation already," Janine said.

"Well, with everything else – games, school, Kurt having extra rehearsals for Nationals, going to Chicago, and all of us working different days – we need to get started early. Just don't forget to bring the recipes with you."

"I won't. Do you have a PS3, Kurt? I saw an Xbox, but not a PS3."

"Finn does," Kurt answered. "It's one of those narrow ones. It’s standing up on its side on the shelf next the TV."

"Cool. I'll bring some games and we can play while stuff is in the oven. Maybe I'll even meet this elusive 'Finn' you speak of," she teased.

"I'm sure you will. The instant the house starts to smell like I'm baking, he'll make an appearance. You've just never been at the house at the same time he has. He's been working at the shop more the last couple of weeks while Dad's been in DC. So have I. We just usually work different days."

She pulled out two $20 bills and handed them to Chandler with a handwritten shopping list. "This is what I need."

Chandler said, "Excellent." He looked down the list. "Chocolate chip cheesecake with a chocolate cookie crust?" he guessed from the ingredients she wrote down.

"You got it. And a few types of cookies. If you end up needing more money, I'll give it to you Friday. Oh, and Grandma said to remind you that Dayton isn't that far away."

"Subtle, very subtle. I'll see when I can fit it into my schedule. We actually have an away game there…" he took his phone out to check, "a week from tomorrow. I'll let her know. She can come cheer for me."

Janine rolled her eyes. "You know why she wants you to come visit, and it has nothing to do with baseball. Although, I know she'll go to your game if you text her when and where it is."

Chandler smiled and winked at her. "I'll see what I can do about the _real_ reason she wants me to visit." He put his hand on Kurt's leg under the table.

"You do that. I know you guys have other plans, and I have to go back to making burgers. Thanks for stopping by to see me." She picked her cup and the tray up.

"See you Friday," Kurt said.

"Yep!" she said, as she walked off.

* * *

Thursday morning before school, Kurt sat alone in the choir room playing the piano. Sam had run off to the locker room to do a quick workout before Glee Club rehearsal. Surprisingly, Puck was the next one to arrive. He propped his elbows on the end of the piano and leaned on it.

"I saw your doppelganger yesterday."

"Oh, really?" Kurt kept playing.

"Yeah, he was in the Wendy's up on the north side of Lima, wearing a North Lima hoodie sitting and eating a Frosty with a guy in a North Lima letterman jacket and a girl in a Wendy's uniform, who looked like she could be the guy's sister."

Kurt kept playing still. "Interesting."

He raised his eyebrows, knowingly. "Yeah, it was." He stepped back and headed up to the top row and plopped down in a chair. "What I think is that you have a new secret boyfriend. And he's a jock at North Lima. I took a look at their athletics page. There was a home baseball game yesterday. I took the liberty of checking out their baseball team. And there he was – third baseman, number 30."

Kurt finished the song and went up and sat down in the back row, leaving an empty chair between him and Puck. He didn't make eye contact. He sat straight-backed, looking towards the piano. "Is there a point in you telling me this?"

"You always have had a thing for jocks, haven't you? I thought Gelmet was some kind of anomaly, but for a small guy, he's pretty buff. He throws a seriously good right hook."

"I wouldn't know." Kurt raised his eyebrows. "I've never seen him with his shirt off."

"Brr." Puck pretended to shiver. "I haven't seen Ice King mode in a while. I thought maybe you had dropped it from your repertoire," he teased.

"Get to the point, Puck."

"He's not a douche is he? The new guy."

Kurt didn't say anything.

"Fine. Don't answer. I was cracking a joke about how I never imagined you being a cheater like me and Rachel told me to shut up. She said that you didn't cheat on Bowties. I didn't see his performance, but I heard about it. That was a mega douche move to sing at you like that if you didn't cheat. Hell, even if you did cheat, that was still a douche move since we all know you keep everything close to the vest. I guess I'm just saying I hope the new guy treats you decent. You've had enough crap. I know I was part of it for far too long. I know words don't mean much, but I am sorry for all of that. I've done what I can to be a different, well, a better person. I'm having a bit of a hard time with it now though because my urge to give Highwaters a toss into the dumpster has been pretty intense."

Kurt gave him a "Don't you dare!" look.

"Enough with the Ice King looks. I haven't done it, have I? You know the only reason we we're being nice to him was because of you."

"What do you mean?"

"We treated you like crap because you were different than us. Even after we quit being completely awful, you always wanted to sing with the girls – you sat with them instead of us. We got it. You forgave us, but you didn't forget. I get that. But I told them all to include him because it would show you that we'd changed. We knew you didn't want to hang out with us, but we invited him. It's not because we like him more than we like you. I actually think you're pretty cool now that's I've spent more time around you, but whatever. Anyway, now I'm torn. He was worse to you than us because you trusted him and he totally humiliated you. You never trusted us, so us being jerks was no big surprise. He, like, lured you out into the open – and then trashed you. I wanted to stop inviting him after his douchetastic performance, but Finn said you wouldn't want us to be mean like that."

"Keep being nice, but you were wrong about me not wanting to be one of the guys. I just didn't think you'd let me. I mean, hell, you're the one who sent me off to spy on the Warblers because you didn't want to listen to my ideas on how to kick the girls' asses in the competition junior year." Kurt sighed. "Ancient history at this point."

"I shouldn't have done that – sent you off to Dalton. Do you know what totally sucks?"

"What?"

"Being a screw up for so long that even when you decide to learn how to be a decent person, with no help from any adults, that the people who know you _still_ treat you like a jackass. I know you heard me talking shit about going to LA, but I'm just blowing hot air because no one would believe me if I talked about my real plans."

"Which are?"

"I'm sticking around and doing a 2-year program for HVAC at LCC. I figure everyone needs their A/C and heat to work."

"That's actually a really good plan."

"Thanks. That's only if I pass this damn European Geography class. I thought it would be easier than World History, but it's not. I have more than enough credits overall, but I need it for my last social studies credit."

"I took World History, but Brittany's taking it right now. She's getting an A. She showed me all of her maps, all colored in, not that long ago. She was telling me how she has this giant set of crayons and why she chose each color specifically for the country she used it on."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, she explained it in great detail while I was doing her nails at lunch the other day. She's also secretly really good at math. She seems to excel in courses that are fact-based. She's doing well in Chemistry. She's my lab partner."

"Well, damn. I had no idea."

"She takes everything very literally, so English class is hard because she doesn't get the idea of sarcasm and irony and all of that stuff."

"That actually makes a lot of sense, now that I think about it."

"I don't know if she'd be of any help, but she definitely knows all of the information."

Other people started coming in.

Puck turned to Kurt and quietly said, "I'll keep what I know about #30 to myself."

"Thanks. The girl is his cousin. He's actually really sweet," Kurt said, even more quietly before anyone got close enough to hear him.

"Good."

Mr. Schue came in, put some stuff down on the piano, and clapped his hands together. "Alright, everyone. Listen up. I made our hotel reservations yesterday. The room assignments are on this sheet. You can check it out after we practice. Everyone clear the risers off and let's get started."

When they finished rehearsing, Kurt went down to look at the room assignments. He was pleased to see that he had been put with Joe, Rory, and Sam – and not with Blaine.

* * *

Finn came barreling into the kitchen Friday when he came in after his 2-hour shift at the garage. He nearly knocked into Janine, who squealed, but managed to turn and keep him from knocking the tray of cookies out of her hand. She put it on the counter.

When she turned back around, she looked up and blushed. "Janine Stark, Chandler's cousin."

"Um, Finn Hudson, Kurt's stepbrother."

She nodded. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Yeah. You too. Do you all need some help?"

"Finn, you don't bake. How would you help?" Kurt asked.

"Taste tester. I've been thinking a lot about careers. There are actually taste testers. I have no idea what you do to become one, but it seems like it could be pretty cool." He went into the laundry room to scrub his hands.

"I bet they have to taste casseroles with vegetables in them," Kurt teased when Finn came back into the kitchen.

"Yuck. Why are you such a spoilsport? I want to be a dessert taste tester. I'll even do it for free."

"Mmm hmm. Have a seat at the island. We'll see what we can do."

"Awesome." He plopped down on a stool. "So, Janine, you go to North Lima too?"

"Yep." She picked the tray back up and got it in the oven this time. "Five more weeks and I'm free."

"Yeah. I mailed in my letter to OSU Lima yesterday. It seems so weird that I'll be in college in the fall."

"I'm going to OSU Lima too."

"That's cool. I got into a place in New York City too, but I just can't. I know Kurt's super excited about it and all, but it's just not for me. We went there for Nationals last year and there's just like a bajillion people everywhere all the time. It's like there's no air left to breathe. I mean Central Park was nice and all. I thought maybe I'd change my mind, so I applied back in the fall so I'd at least have the possibility." He shook his head. "It's just not for me."

"I get that. I'm going to miss Chandler _so_ much. He and I have been best friends since before we can remember. But no matter how much I tried to picture myself there, I just can't see it."

"You two look like brother and sister."

"Lots of people probably think we are. Our moms are identical twins and we look like them. His sister Marlene looks like their dad. My older brother Toby looks like our dad. It's weird."

"Did you get the stuff to make the snickerdoodles I wanted?" Finn asked.

Kurt answered, "I did. They'll go in after the chocolate chip ones that Janine just put in. Once we get through with the cookies, we have the cheesecakes, the ice cream cake, and the brownies."

"Can I sample everything?"

"No, Finn. Just the cookies. The other stuff we're not slicing up. We're just freezing them whole, so they'll look nice when we put them out to serve at the graduation parties."

"I brought some PS3 games we can play while the cakes bake."

"Cool," Finn said. "I have _Rock Band_. We could play that too. Kurt's great for the singer because he can sing the guys and girls songs. I always play the drums."

"That would work. Do you have two guitars?"

"Yeah."

"Cool. I brought _Portal 2_ and _Ratchet & Clank: All for One_."

"I like _Portal 2_. I play it on my PC though. I haven't played _All for One_ , but the older ones are fun."

"Four people can play it at once. That's why I brought it. I brought two controllers too, in case you didn't have extras."

"Sorry, guys. I need to turn the mixer on," Chandler said.

"It's fine. How about we start with the sampling while we can't talk?"

* * *

Later that evening, Finn knocked on Kurt's door.

Kurt opened the door. "Hey, Finn. What's up?"

"Can I come in?"

"Sure." He opened the door far enough to let Finn in.

Finn stopped, making it impossible for Kurt to close the door.

"Finn, come in all the way."

"Right." He looked at Chandler sitting on Kurt's bed wearing Kurt's pajamas. "I can go and let you two…"

"It's fine. If you want to talk in private, we can go down to your room."

"I'm just not used to whatever this is." He sat in the chair in the corner.

"This is Chandler spending the night. You knew he was going to. Did you think I was going to make him sleep on the floor?"

"Honestly, I just didn't think about it."

"Dad let you sleep over at Rachel's. Fair is fair. Chandler and I are both 18."

Finn leaned his head back and stretched his neck around in a circle. He sighed. "I did it. I went over to Rachel's and told her that I turned in my papers to go to OSU Lima."

"I take it that it didn't go well."

"Actually, she was very supportive. She said that her new therapist talked her out of pestering Madame What’s-her-name. She mentioned auditioning for roles in Toledo and Columbus and that she was going to reapply to NYADA next year. She said we can still go to New York together this way. She said I can take my Gen Ed courses and then apply to transfer to the school I got into in New York. She has it all planned out."

"Sounds like Rachel," Kurt said.

Chandler knew enough about Rachel to understand Kurt's statement. He said, "I realize that I don’t know the whole story, but it seems really mean to keep stringing her along if you don't see this lasting."

"Well, that's the thing though. When we agreed to get back together last year after Nationals, the agreement was to stay together for our senior year. She knew then that I wasn't interested in going to New York and she was all 'New York is my destiny.' The problem is that I do love her, but when I try to think of reasons why, I can't come up with any. It shouldn't be like that. We're not comp, comat… what's that word?"

Kurt offered, "Compatible?"

"Yeah, that. I love burgers and steak and she's vegan. I like all sorts of rock music and she's into show tunes. I like action movies and she likes old black and white movies with so little action that I fall asleep. Besides performing in Glee Club, I honestly can't think of anything that we have in common that's not just a regular thing all people do like sleep and breathe. She told me I was too good to work in the shop and live in Lima. But that's just… mean. I'm sure there's a fancy word for it that I don't know. But Burt and Mom, they're both awesome and they live and work here. I get why you two wouldn't like it here, but if Lima suddenly became accepting, I don't think you'd hate it here."

"No, I wouldn't. It doesn't offer what I'm looking for, but I certainly wouldn't hate it," Kurt said.

"My parents like it here too," Chandler said. "It's close enough to a couple of big cities to go to museums or events or whatever, but it's calm and quiet here. It is kind of mean to say that you're too good to stay here. We need 'good' people to stay here. Otherwise, this town will just get worse and worse. If the accepting people our age stay here and raise families here, hopefully the next generation of kids growing up here won't be so prejudiced."

Finn agreed. "That's true. Anyway, I feel like if I break up with her now, it's like going back on my word to date her this school year."

"Finn, you have to know that she agreed to that with ulterior motives. She thought she could persuade you to go to New York with her."

"I just feel stuck. I agreed to it, so I feel like I should stick it out. But tonight, she started talking about the wedding again. I feel terrible about Quinn getting in the wreck and breaking her arm and the airbag breaking her nose, but I'm really glad that I didn't actually marry Rachel that day. I've been thinking a lot since then."

"I can understand your point of view. You feel like you're breaking your word if break up now, plus she'll spend the next five weeks trying to win you back and persuade you that her plan is great. If you wait until after graduation to break up with her you will have kept your word, and you won't have to see her every day and listen to her plead with you. You could try telling her that you want to focus on what's left of high school for now. Maybe that would get her to stop talking about the wedding for the next five weeks."

"I'll do that. I'm just going to stick it out for the rest of the semester. I want to be a man of my word. And I can only see bad things by breaking up with her. I don't want to make rehearsals terrible for everyone. Anyway, thanks for listening."

"You're welcome."

He got up and sighed, stretching his arms up over his head. "I'm going to bed. Oh, Burt's home. He was coming in when I got back."

Kurt nodded.

Finn closed the door behind him when he left.

* * *

Kurt relocked the door, turned the lights off, and slipped under the covers with Chandler.

"That whole thing sounds like a teen soap opera," Chandler said.

"It totally is. I've lost track of how many times he's cheated with her, broken up with her, and gotten back together with her. I think he's finally made it over the hump of seeing himself as his own person and not who he is in relation to someone or something else. He's not the quarterback. He's not the lead singer of the New Directions. He's not the center on the basketball team. He's not Rachel's boyfriend or Quinn's for that matter. He's Finn. He may not know what he wants to do, but he's figured out what he doesn't want to do. That's a start."

"What about you? We only have a few days left before the deadline for accepting our offers."

"I've decided on FIT. It has a good reputation and it's affordable. And although I really want to perform, I want to design clothes. Tina made a comment to me the other day that just resonated. It was just a simple statement of how much time I put into considering what to wear for a performance. She was just commenting on how much time I had spent working on their three dresses and my outfit for my audition – how we were on stage for less than five minutes, but I had put who knows how many hours into the costumes. I thought about it. I do spend a lot of time considering what to wear. I do practice as well, but not in the way that Rachel does. She practices forever. She doesn't really give any consideration to how she looks when she performs. I know that in the end, she'll just wear whatever the director and the costumers come up with, but it was just the mindset that I was thinking about. If I change my mind, I can always start over."

"That's true. Plus, once you're older and you've lived in NY on your own and not for school, it wouldn't cost that much for you to go to one of the CUNY or SUNY schools and just take the acting, singing, and dancing courses. You wouldn't need the general education courses if you were just working on improving your skills to audition for parts."

"That's true. I might even be able to take one or two classes once I start to work. It would just depend on my schedule."

"So, we should jump on getting that apartment in the Garment District that we found last night before it's gone."

"That is a really nice place. Do you want to go down and talk to my dad about going ahead and getting it?"

"Could we? That's been what's made me the most anxious is that we don't have a place yet. My parents will pay your dad back for half of the deposit."

He rolled over and kissed Chandler on the cheek. "Okay. Come on."

"Dressed like this? I'm wearing your pajamas."

"Sure."

Kurt grabbed his laptop and they went downstairs. Burt was sitting on the sofa looking through a stack of papers.

"Hey, Dad. Can we talk to you?"

"Sure."

"I made up my mind. I've chosen FIT. And Chandler and I have chosen the apartment. I was wondering if you could go ahead and pay the deposit so we can get it before someone else snatches it up."

"I don't have a problem with that."

Chandler said, "My parents will give you my half."

"That's fine. Show me the place. Let's go sit in the dining room, though."

Kurt sat down at the table to show the photos to Burt. "It's amazing, Dad. It's a 1-bedroom place. It's still small, but it's so much nicer than most of the places we looked at. It's got a renovated kitchen and bathroom. Everything's new inside. The bathroom and the kitchen walls are tiled. It's got a full-sized fridge, similar to ours. Almost all of the places we looked have those tiny under-the-cabinet fridges, so we'd have to go shopping every other day. We looked in other places, near some of the other schools I was considering and some near NYU, but we both really like this one. All of the utilities except the internet are included in the cost, and it even has an air conditioner."

"Well, I was expecting a shoebox, but this is actually really nice." Burt looked through the photos. "It looks like a winner to me. If we split it with Chandler's family, it won't be any more than we would have spent on a dorm at OSU, but you'll have to work to buy your groceries and pay for your phone and internet and any other discretionary spending."

"I know. That's fine."

"I'm going to click to put your names in for it. Hopefully, they get back to me quickly and you two get it."

"Thanks, Dad."

"You're welcome."

"We got all of the baking done."

"That's good. Now, to keep it from being snacked on."

"I told Finn that if he eats any of it, that I'm not remaking anything and we just won't have anything to serve at our party unless he buys stuff from a bakery with his own money."

Burt chuckled. "Good plan. I'll let you know when I hear back from the rental agent."

"We'll let you get back to your reading. Night, Dad."

"'Night."

* * *

The next morning, Kurt and Chandler worked together to make a quiche. After they put it in the oven, they went back upstairs and got ready for the day. They brought their bags back down and packed them in the Navigator. When they got back inside, Kurt pulled the quiche out of the oven and put it on the stovetop. He cut it into six slices and plated four for himself, Sam, Janine, and Chandler, who was pouring them all glasses of juice.

Burt came out of his office at the smell of food. Kurt smiled and plated a piece for him and Carole as well when he turned back to go get her. He had a few pieces of paper and a pen in his hands when he sat down in the dining room.

"I need the two of you to sign these so I can fax them back. As soon as I do, you two will be the official lessees of an apartment in New York City starting on July 1st. That second paper is for your personal financial safety. It's a legal document holding each of you legally responsible for half of the rent unless someone else takes over your portion of the cost. I'm not expecting either one of you to back out, but all sorts of things can happen and I don't want either one of you stuck with the full payment and end up losing the place and having to drop out of school or something."

"I get it, Dad. It's fine with me."

"Me too."

Kurt picked up the pen and signed by the two places with an X. He slid the papers to Chandler to sign.

"I'll need your licenses to add to the paperwork. You'll have to get new ones when you get there and turn copies of those in right away."

They pulled their licenses out and gave them to Burt. He took the paperwork and went to his office.

He was back a few minutes later with copies of the lease and the other form for them to keep. "Well, that's it. The place is yours. The leasing agent sent this back. It's a floor plan with the exact measurements."

"Excellent. That was a lot faster than I had expected.

When the doorbell rang, Chandler went to answer the door to let Janine in. She sat down at the table and started to eat.

Kurt pulled out his phone and texted Sam because they hadn't seen him up yet.

Sam came scurrying through the kitchen a couple of minutes later. "I'm so sorry. I fell asleep last night before I set my alarm. I'll be back in 10 minutes." He grabbed his slice of the quiche, put it on his napkin, and ran back upstairs.

Burt laughed. "Well, it's a good thing you texted him. Good morning, Janine."

"Good morning. This is good. Thanks for feeding me," she said.

"Ah, well, that's Kurt and Chandler's doing. I just showed up to eat, like you."

She smiled.

By the time they finished eating, Sam was back downstairs with his backpack thrown over his shoulder. "I'm ready."

"That was fast," Janine said.

"I'll load the dishwasher," Carole said. "You all can go ahead and get going."

"Thanks," Kurt said.

"Be safe. Have fun!" she said.

"We will," Chandler said.

Kurt said, "Go ahead out. I'm going to run these papers up to my room. I'll be right back down."

* * *

They picked up Dave and his cousin Carly, who was also a senior at North Lima, at Carly's uncle's house on the way out of town. Dave had transferred to North Lima after his attempt, but was on homebound and did all of his schoolwork at home, so he didn't know Chandler or Janine. Dave and Carly had been close growing up, but Dave had told Kurt that she had no knowledge of Dave's bullying years at McKinley.

It was a complicated situation for Kurt and Sam since they were the two who knew all of the details between Kurt and Dave. Sam eventually let his guard down around Dave after a while of observing how he spoke to Kurt and everyone else.

Janine and Carly knew each other from being in classes together. Chandler had shared more classes with her, and Carly had been in choir with him all four years.

Chandler didn't know that it was Dave who had bullied and threatened him. They had met in passing at the club in Columbus that he and Kurt had gone to with Sebastian and Adrien. The only other thing Chandler knew about him was being outed and his attempt.

"Okay, now that everyone has met, how about we talk about what we're doing after graduation?" Kurt suggested. "I'll go first. I'm going to the Fashion Institute of Technology, known as FIT, in New York City."

Chandler went next. "I'm going to NYU to study Musical Theatre."

"I'm staying in Lima and going to OSU Lima. I'm considering Early Childhood Education as my major, but I haven't completely decided," Janine said.

Sam said, "I'm moving back to Tennessee with my family and taking a gap year to re-establish my Tennessee residency. I'll decide on a school next year. I'm not sure what I want to study yet."

Carly said, "I'm going to OSU. I'm majoring in Computer and Information Science, but I'm also going to take education classes. I'm hoping to work to make online education more widely used, especially in the field of education for vision-impaired students. I think there has to be a way to use and improve the technology we have to make it easier to do some of their work online where they can control font size and have the ability to get the device to read to them. I don't know whether I'll succeed, but that's my idea anyway. If it doesn't work out, I'll have to reconsider my options."

Sam said, "That's really cool. I have dyslexia and so many of the computer readers make the reading harder to understand than if I just sludge through it myself. I've tried them out when we've been assigned readings on different government websites for our US Government class. I would love it if they could read more naturally. Monotone does not help with understanding."

"I hadn't really considered how it might help people with dyslexia. That's another avenue I can pursue to maybe get more interest in my ideas."

Dave went next. "I'm going to a school in Portland, called Reed College. It's a really good school for math and I was offered a full scholarship, so I figured I'd give it a try. My math teacher at Thurston recommended it to me and wrote a letter of recommendation."

Kurt said, "That's great. I knew you were really good at math. A full-scholarship is amazing."

"Yeah. I was really surprised. From everything I've read, Portland is a really gay-friendly place. I'm not going back in the closet. I'm going to be myself from the beginning. It's a scary idea, but I'm ready to figure out who I am as a gay man, not a scared teenager who's trying to hide who I am all the time. My dad and I are moving out of Lima. We haven't picked a place yet, but he wants to start over too. He wants to have a place that's our home where I can go and not feel like I do when I'm in Lima."

"You'll have to let us know if Portland lives up to the hype. Maybe Chandler and I will put it on a future vacation destination list."

"I'll let you know."

The topic moved on to graduation and Nationals and other end-of-year events.

* * *

They made it to Kings Island in less than two hours and parked next to Sebastian and Adrien. A couple of minutes later, Braxton and Greg pulled up. They introduced themselves to Janine, Carly, and Sam since they hadn’t been to the club in Columbus where they had met everyone else.

It was slightly chilly and overcast, but it wasn't raining, which actually turned out to be the perfect weather. Since they had bought tickets online, they were inside within five minutes. They headed straight to the roller coasters.

At the end of the evening, they went their separate ways. Braxton and Greg headed to Wolf Lodge to stay overnight and spend the next day at the indoor water park. Since Sam and Janine both had to work the next day, he drove the Navigator back to Lima. Sebastian drove Kurt, Chandler, and Adrien back to his place for the night.


	12. Chapter 12

They were all pretty tired on the drive back to Sebastian's place. Their conversation mostly centered around their adventures during the day. When they got there, Kurt and Chandler headed straight to the guest room. Kurt showered first in the en suite bathroom. He did an abbreviated version of his nighttime skin care ritual while Chandler showered, promising himself that he would do the rest the next morning because he just wanted to lie down.

Chandler came out of the bathroom just a minute or so later and got in bed with him. Once he turned the lamp on the nightstand off, he scooted a little closer to Kurt. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me yet, or ever, but I'm wondering why you invited David and Carly. Not that I minded them coming, but I didn't know you and Dave were close. We saw him at the club and you exchanged general greetings, but I didn't the impression that the two of you were good friends. And gauging Sam's initial behavior, he seemed somewhat antagonistic towards Dave. He did relax as the morning went on, but he still seemed a little on edge compared to how he normally is."

"It's complicated and I will explain it, but basically I just wanted to do something nice, so I invited him and told him to bring a plus one of his choice since we invited Sam and Janine to come. Sebastian and Adrien have each other. And Greg and Braxton are best friends. I didn't want David to feel like a 9th wheel or whatever. I had also hoped that since he knew everyone except Janine that it would be less awkward for him – and for me and Sam."

"I don't understand."

"Will you be the big spoon?"

"Of course.

Kurt turned over and Chandler scooted up behind him. He slipped his left arm under Kurt's pillow and put his right arm around him and held him close.

"You remember how that first weekend at my house when we were working on our coats I told you that there were things that would take time for me to tell you?"

"Yes, you said that you had things that hurt too much and you weren't ready to talk about right then, but that in time you'd share more with me and you basically didn't want the time we spent together to be you recounting all of the bad things that happened to you."

"Right. Well, there are people who behaved differently in the past than they do now. A few people have really changed for the better, which is what everyone hopes for. But if people keep treating them like they're still bullies, they can't actually move forward either because they can't see themselves as who they've become. What I've learned is that as hard as it is for me to forgive them, some of the ones who have changed really struggle with forgiving themselves. So, there's this weird line between forgiving and forgetting and holding grudges. It's hard to explain. It's basically like putting someone you used to despise back in the acquaintance category because they're not your enemy anymore, but they're not your friend, and yet they're not just a stranger."

"I can understand that. Sometimes it's too hard to forgive and forget, but it's also too hard to keep up the energy required to actively hold a grudge against someone. There's a gray zone of 'I don't want to expend any energy on this person anymore.' But you can't just completely let go of what they did, so you maintain a kind of passive caution around them?"

"Yes. So, that's where I'm at with Dave." Kurt took a few deep breaths and told Chandler the truth about the extent of Dave's bullying – how he was the one who had caused Kurt to transfer. He went on to tell him about the Bully Whips, Dave's change of heart, and about running into him in the fall without mentioning where. He explained how Valentine's Day led to Dave being outed and what happened afterwards. By the time he finished, he was crying. "He called me nine times. I told him that I was willing to be friends with him, and then I ignored his calls nine times. If I had picked up any of those times, he might not have been so desperate and …"

"It's not your fault."

"I know. My fault would mean that I caused it, but there is a difference between causing something and preventing something. If I had answered, I might have been able to prevent it. There's no way to know. What I do know is that I didn't keep my word. If I didn't want to have anything to do with him, I shouldn't have offered my friendship or I should have let him know that I had changed my mind. I've kept in contact with him through email since then. Sebastian reached out to him afterwards as well. They had met at some point before I saw Dave again last fall. Sebastian used to hassle me as well. There aren't actually a lot of people in my life who haven't berated or bullied me for something at some point. Even Finn." He thought for a minute. "Tina, Brittany, and Sam. The new members haven't done anything to me, but they're all sophomores, and I've only known most of them for a few months. Anyway, with what happened, I just wanted him to get to do one fun thing before high school ends. And I figured this was the best option."

"You amaze me." He kissed the back of Kurt's neck.

"You're not mad that I've been emailing him this whole time?"

"Not at all. Obviously you're just trying to help him through a really rough patch until he can move away from this area and start a life away from here. And even if you keep emailing him after he moves away, I'm not going to think you're cheating if that's what you're afraid of."

"Actually, it is, but that's a story for another time. I can only handle so much crying and getting upset at a time. I'm still working through things. I promise I'm not shutting you out. I just need time to process some things still."

"I get that. I'm not going to push you. I've told you before that you've dealt with so many things that it amazes me that you could keep going under the pressure sometimes. I'm a patient guy. The fact that your past could have been a realistic version of the _Series of Unfortunate Events_ doesn't change how I feel about you. If anything, it makes me respect you more for how hard you've worked to stay true to yourself and to keep a positive attitude."

"I haven't always succeeded at that."

"Which is understandable. But you keep getting back up and trying and that's all we can do. And I want you know that you sharing these things with me helps me get to know you, but I still want you to know that I don't expect you to tell me things you're not ready to talk about. If there are still things you need to work through, maybe you could see someone. I can be here for you and I appreciate how much trust you've put in me, but sometimes people need someone who can help, not just listen. "

"I do trust you. And I have thought about it. I honestly think that seeing someone would have helped more while it was going on, but now that it's over, I think it's just taking time to process everything. I got over my incessant need to do everything myself and keep people who care about me in the dark this spring. I've read several really good books and letting Carole being a mom to me has helped more than I had realized it could. She's really funny and not at all bothered by things that make my dad really nervous. Like boys and dating." The crying and comfort had been cathartic and he felt so much less tumultuous.

"So, you've been talking to her about me?" he asked teasingly.

"I have. All good things. So many good things." He placed gentle kisses across the knuckles of Chandler's hand that he had been holding the whole time he had been talking. "So much of dating you has been different from my previous experience. She has been a gold mine of help in helping me figure myself out."

"I'm so glad you asked me out. This, with you, is everything I'd hoped dating would be like. I just feel really relaxed around you, after I got over my initial nerves, of course. I really did think you'd send me on my way after I fanboyed so much when we first met."

"It was really nice to meet such positive and energetic person who was interested in being my friend. And I feel the same way – relaxed around you. But I also feel really excited. It's hard to explain. I just feel really comfortable, which is so unusual for me." He struggled to hold back the words that came to mind. _How can I feel that strongly after a month? Maybe I'm just desperate?_ He considered that for a few minutes. _No, I was desperate when I met Blaine. This doesn't feel like that at all_. _Every aspect of that relationship put me on edge. Being around Chandler makes me calm._ He rolled back just a bit.

"Are you uncomfortable?"

"Not at all. I just want to kiss you good night."

Chandler moved just enough to kiss Kurt. "Better?" he teased.

"Much. One more?"

"Any time." He kissed Kurt again.

Kurt rolled back over. Chandler snuggled close, nuzzling into the back of Kurt's neck. Kurt felt his hold relax as Chandler fell asleep. Bits and pieces of songs about lying in a lover's embrace and feeling at home with someone filled Kurt's mind as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning when he woke up, Kurt managed to get out of bed without disturbing Chandler. He quietly finished up his skincare from the night before. Afterwards, he headed downstairs to help with breakfast. He found Sebastian in the kitchen, whisking some eggs.

"Want some help?"

"Sure. You can dice up those vegetables. They've already been washed."

Kurt picked up a green pepper and began cutting it into strips, and then into smaller pieces.

"He's good for you. You're happier now."

"I am."

"I appreciate you giving me a chance to prove that I'm something besides a jackass."

"When you aren't pretending to try to steal my boyfriend, you're a lot more tolerable."

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Golly gee willikers. Tolerable, huh?"

"Fine. You're actually pretty funny and I enjoy your company. I'm glad we're friends now."

"Me too. It was all stupid. I wish I hadn't done any of it. I'm not even go to get into it again. It was one of the dumbest things I've ever done. I have no excuse. The only bright side I see is that my interference in your life might have helped you to realize that you needed to reconsider some things."

"Perhaps, if I hadn't been so near-sighted at the time." He reached for the onion and started to dice it.

What no one saw was Chandler approaching the bottom of the stairs. He froze for a minute. He didn't want to interrupt, but he didn't want to eavesdrop.

"The red flags were there. I just had tunnel vision and they were outside of my viewing field. The things I did notice, I mostly just ignored, hoping they would improve. The rest of the time I was hoping that I was imagining things. I stuck it out long past the point it should have ended. Actually, it should have never started, but hindsight with no blinders gives a lot different picture. I'm really happy now and I can honestly say that seeing myself with Chandler in New York is really exciting. He's just so much fun. And he's kind and generous and not at all controlling. He has this really amazing outlook on life. I just feel good being in the same room with him. It's so completely different and wonderful."

Sebastian smiled. "I'm glad for you. It sounds like you're well on your way to being in love with Mister Ball-of-Energy."

"It's been five weeks. That hardly seems long enough."

"I'm not in a position to give an opinion on that. I'm with the guy I've been with for nearly five years. We grew into our love together. It's different when you meet someone when you're already an adult. I don't think there's a time when it's too soon or too long. I think it's how you feel and how well you've gotten to know each other in those five weeks. Some people can be really open and vulnerable and learn a lot about each other in five weeks. Other people know virtually nothing about each other in six months or a year because they have their walls up and they're unable or unwilling to put them down and risk being hurt by being vulnerable, or their partner can't or won't let their walls down."

Chandler turned around and went back upstairs to get dressed.

"I met Chandler's parents the first time we went out to get to know each other. My parents met his parents four days after we started dating."

"This seems to mean something to you that I'm not able to infer."

"I never met _his_ parents. I didn't find out he had a brother until a couple of weeks before we broke up."

"Oh, wow. He never talked about anything personal like that with me either. He always managed to be the topic of the conversation, but it was never about him as a person, now that I think about it."

"Exactly." He had finished chopping everything and slid the diced onion into a bowl and washed the cutting board and knife. "I'm going to go get dressed and get Chandler up if he's still asleep."

"Okay. We'll eat in about 15 minutes."

"Thanks for cooking for us."

"Not a problem. You've cooked for us before, you know?"

Kurt smiled and nodded. "I know, but I still appreciate it. We'll be down in a bit. Should I knock and wake Adrien up?"

"He'll be back any minute. He went out for a jog."

* * *

Kurt opened the guest room door quietly so he wouldn't startle Chandler, but when he peeked in, he saw Chandler packing his bag. The only thing left for him to do was put his shoes on when they were ready to leave.

"Good morning, handsome. You're already dressed." Kurt shut the door behind him.

Chandler closed the distance quickly and gently pressed Kurt against the door. He ran his hands down Kurt's arms. "I like the short-sleeves. I like being able to feel your skin." He kissed Kurt.

Overwhelmed by the feelings running through his body, Kurt relaxed into the kiss and let Chandler lick his way into his mouth. He wrapped his arms around Chandler's waist and kissed back.

Chandler ran his hands through Kurt's hair. "I'm really feeling the bedhead look on you. Very sexy." He kissed Kurt again, pressing in again and kissing until they were both breathless. He started to kiss down Kurt's neck.

"Not that this isn't amazing, but Sebastian's cooking and breakfast will be done in about ten minutes. I need to get dressed."

"Mmm hmm." He kept kissing along the edge of Kurt's t-shirt. "I'll grab my bag and shoes and go on downstairs." He stepped back just a half-step and kissed him gently on the lips. "I won't keep distracting you."

Kurt fought to regain control of his desire and managed to let go of Chandler. "I like your distractions – a lot." He stepped away from the door and closer to Chandler. He took both of Chandler's hands and brought them up to his lips. He placed gentle kisses along Chandler's knuckles. "I'll be down as soon as I get dressed." He let go of his hands, grabbed the clothes he was going to wear, and went into the bathroom to change.

Chandler picked up his shoes and bag and went downstairs. He sat them by the front door before he went into the kitchen. "Hey, Sebastian. Need any help?"

"Sure. You can get the plates out." He pointed. "The juice is in the fridge still. You can pour each of us a glass."

A couple of minutes later, they had the food plated. Adrien came down the stairs, his hair sill wet from his quick shower. Kurt was right behind him. They all sat down together to eat.

"This is really good," Chandler said.

"It is," Kurt agreed.

Sebastian said, "Thanks."

They all ate quickly. Kurt washed the skillet Sebastian had used. Adrien loaded the dishwasher and turned it on. Chandler wiped down the table, stove, and counters. As soon as they finished cleaning up, they grabbed their bags and headed out to Sebastian's car. It didn't take long to reach their first destination, a family fun center. They arrived right before it opened.

They paid and were first in line. Once four more people showed up, they were allowed out onto the track to get in the go-karts. Kurt finished the first race at least three car lengths ahead of everyone else.

When they were heading toward the mini-golf area, Sebastian said, "Alright, hotshot. How did you beat everyone by so much?"

"I've been driving since I was 12."

"12?" Sebastian repeated.

"My dad owns a car repair shop. I've been working on cars since I was eight. He taught me to drive when I was 12. Of course, I couldn't drive out on the streets then. We went and drove around on a farm one of my dad's buddies. His buddy also had go-karts and dirt track. I used to race against his kids."

"I see." Sebastian smirked. "So you chose the activity to show us all up?"

"Nope. I just wanted to race again. I haven't driven one in about four years."

Adrien asked, "Did they move away or something?"

"No, I just wasn't welcome anymore." He reached into a bucket and chose a neon blue golf ball. He stepped past the buckets and let everyone else choose. He grabbed a pencil and tally sheet while he waited.

At the end the course, Chandler came out ahead by two strokes. Once they were done, they got back in line for one more race, which Kurt won again, but everyone took it in stride the second time.

He checked the time on his phone. "So, on to the museum, right?" Chandler asked. "We're getting lunch on the way. Did anyone pick a place yet?"

Kurt looked up places near the museum to eat and found The Hills Market.

* * *

"This is too much fun to pass up," Sebastian said, as he noticed the street sign when they got to the sidewalk after walking through the parking lot.

The other three looked up and laughed. It said, "Gay Street".

Kurt said, "We have to figure out how to get a selfie with all four of us and that street sign."

They rearranged themselves until they were all four in the shot. They had to work at not laughing, which they barely managed for a couple of the shots. Kurt put his phone in his pocket, took Chandler's hand and started towards the front door to the museum. Adrien and Sebastian wrapped their arms around each other's waists.

"It's been a couple of years since I was here," Chandler said. "They have a lot of nice pieces. Not a lot of famous pieces, but they're still really good."

Kurt excitedly said, "I know what we forgot to tell you two."

"What?" Sebastian asked.

"We got the place in the Garment District. The 1-bedroom place. We can move in July 1st."

"Congratulations!" Adrien said, enthusiastically. "I know you had said that's the one you really liked, but you didn't know about the location since you hadn't chosen your school yet."

"It's really close to FIT, which is where I chose. Unfortunately, Chandler will have about a 20-minute commute."

"It's not so bad," he said. "I want to perform on Broadway or off-Broadway and the apartment is only a half-mile from there, so it's walkable on the way in, and late at night a taxi shouldn't be terrible if I decide not to walk back."

"That makes sense," Sebastian said. "Hopefully, you'll both really like it there since the longer you stay in a place, the less your rent will go up."

"The rent is already so high, keeping it down would definitely help," Chandler said.

Kurt added, "You two can come stay with us and see the sights sometime."

"We can do that," Adrien said.

"A New York City vacation sounds like a good idea for Fall Break. Maybe we can persuade my dad to sign us out a day or two early and extend our stay. I know you two will have schoolwork, but Adrien and I can go out and do the touristy things you two will have already done. We can spend our time together doing things you two haven't already done."

"Sounds like a start of a good plan. We'll just need the dates."

They stopped talking as they stepped inside the museum. They spent the whole afternoon walking through the various exhibits and gallery rooms. They saved the outdoor sculpture garden for last.

* * *

After the four of them ate dinner with Sam at a mom and pop diner in Bellefontaine, they said their goodbyes. Sam had gone to the museum earlier in the year on a field trip with his art class, which made it easy to talk about on the way back.

"Next time, we're going to Cincinnati. We just need to find a decent hotel that's cheap," Kurt said.

"We're not inviting…" Sam stopped.

"It's okay, Sam. I told Chandler what happened. "We're not inviting David again. I'll still keep in contact with him via email, but it's too much to ask you to spend that much time cooped up with him in the Navigator. I appreciate you being kind yesterday. I know it took a lot of effort on your part. You're still pretty mad about what happened. It was a bad situation with no good outcome. Honestly, after everything he's been through, I just wanted him to have something nice to look back on, even if it was just one day. Having half of his family disown him, losing his friends, and not getting to graduate with anyone he's gone to school with is already terrible. No prom, no graduation, no one to sign his yearbook. There's no joy in it for me to watch him suffer. It all hits too close to home. What if I had been born into a family like that? What if my mom had lived, only to later disown me? At least he still has his dad. If he just hadn't been too afraid to somehow tell me before he scared the crap out of me, maybe things could have been different. Maybe we could have been good friends. I can see that he's not who he pretended to be at McKinley, but I think it will take time for him to figure out who he is. I hope the school in Portland is a good fit."

"I get it," Sam said. "But you're a more forgiving person than I am or maybe it's because it was _you_ that I'm less forgiving. You were the first person to reach out to me and really be welcoming in a way that had nothing to do with me being on the football team. Anyway, I'll work on letting it go. There's not point in holding a grudge any longer. We're all moving on. It's time to leave the past in the past."

"It's honestly a good thing that you didn't tell me until after the fact because I'm sure that I could not have kept my death glare in check." Chandler leaned up and put his hand on Kurt's shoulder.

A warmth flowed through Kurt that filled him with a sense of peace he had never gotten from someone's touch.

Chandler said, "I'm glad you decked him, Sam. He had it coming at the time." He started to sing. He switched the lyrics around a bit to fit better.

_He had it comin'.  
He had it comin'.  
He only had himself to blame.  
If I had been there,  
If I had seen it,  
You betcha, I would have done the same…_

Sam laughed.

Kurt just shook his head. He reached up and put his hand over the top of Chandler's. The warmth he had felt just got stronger. _This is what it feels like when someone really cares._ Kurt imagined how Chandler would have reacted to Sebastian's digs at him. He would not have let it go without either confronting Sebastian or standing firmly by Kurt's side. He squeezed Chandler's hand.

* * *

Carole invited James and Sharon over for dinner after the baseball game on Tuesday. She prepped a roast with vegetables in the Crockpot and had Burt put it on to cook at lunch. When they all got back from the game, everything was ready to serve.

After they ate, Carole and Sharon sat in the living room and talked. Burt and James went downstairs to watch TV. Finn joined them. Sam went up to work on his schoolwork since he had been at work and hadn't had time to do it. Kurt and Chandler went up to Kurt's room.

Kurt locked the door after he closed it. They both slipped their shoes off.

"Do you mind if I take another shower? I still feel gross and I don't want to get your bed disgusting."

"Sure. You know where everything is."

Chandler helped himself to pair of Kurt's lounge pants and a t-shirt from his dresser before he went into the bathroom. Less than ten minutes later, he was out. He brought dry towel out with him and left it folded in half and put it over Kurt's pillow. He plopped down and grabbed for Kurt on his way down. He wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck and pulled him close for a lying-down hug. When he loosened his hold on Kurt, he kissed him soundly. "You're sure about only going to North Lima for prom?"

"I'm certain." He told Chandler the saga of being named Junior Prom Queen the year before.

"Wow. There just are no words. I can see why you don't want to go. Are you sure you want to go to the North Lima Prom?"

Kurt ran his hand along the side of Chandler's face. "Have you changed your mind? You sound unsure."

"I absolutely do want to go to Senior Prom with you. I just don't want you to feel like I'm pressuring you after what you just told me."

"You've never pressured me to do anything, ever. And I'm pretty sure that I can't be elected Senior Prom Queen at a school I don't attend."

"That's true. Will you dance with me at Prom?"

"I will dance with you any time you want."

Chandler started to sing softly.

_We can ride the boogie.  
Share that beat of love._

Kurt joined in, singing the echoed parts.

_I wanna rock with you (all night)  
Dance you into day (sunlight)  
I wanna rock with you (all night)  
We're gonna rock the night away (rock right)_

They both started laughing.

* * *

Chandler’s coach gave him permission to drive himself to the away game in Dayton on Thursday. Kurt and Janine rode with him and sat with their grandma during the game. She wore a shirt the same color of purple as Kurt's North Lima hoodie. Janine wore a plum Levi's jacket and Docs.

They went over to Grandma Jean's house for dinner afterwards. She was every bit as outgoing and good-natured as Chandler and Janine. At her request, Kurt and Chandler sang for her. They ended up playing Euchre for about an hour before they had to leave. Kurt paired up with Chandler making the playing field a lot more even. When they had to leave, she hugged each of them and sent the leftover apple pie she had made home with them.

* * *

Late Saturday afternoon a little over a week later, Kurt came down the stairs carrying his tux in a garment bag, with the rest of his clothes and shoes in a small wheeled suitcase that he was carrying by the handle. He turned on the landing to go down the rest of the stairs only to be faced with Rachel looking up at him from the bottom of the stairs.

"I thought you weren't going to prom."

"I'm not."

"Your hair is perfect, you're carrying what looks to be a suit or tux, and you have a suitcase."

"You're a regular Miss Marple. If you'll, excuse me, I have plans."

"All of your friends will be at McKinley's prom tonight."

"Not true. Stop prying for information. I need to get going."

She stepped to the side. "North Lima's Senior Prom is tonight too. I overheard some girls at the mall."

"I'm sure that lots of high schools are having Senior Prom this weekend or next. This is the traditional time of year for such events."

"You're deflecting."

"You're being irritating."

"You're dating someone."

"So what if I am? I don't need your approval for that."

"It's Chandler, isn't it?"

"Why does this matter to you?"

"This year has just been such a mess. I screwed up so many times. I wanted everything to be perfect and instead it's been perfectly disastrous. Nothing is how it was supposed to be. You and I would be going to NYADA together, and Finn would go to school somewhere or get a full-time job. The three of us would get a 2-bedroom place in Manhattan. Now, there's three weeks left of school. Finn's been acting weird. You're going to NYADA without me. I've been seeing a new therapist for a few weeks. Actually, I started the week after the talk with my dad. After you left, I told him that my other one didn't seem to know how to help me. This new one… she's… different. She's seems very unsympathetic, but I think she's what a therapist is supposed to be like. My other one just listened to me talk mostly. The new one gives me a lot of advice and keeps pointing out the errors in my thinking. It's hard because I'm not used to anyone contradicting me."

"Rachel, look, if you want to talk sometime, we can work on making arrangements for that, but I really do have plans and I need to go."

She nodded.

* * *

"You're as cute as Janine said you were. I'm Roxanne."

"It's nice to meet you," Kurt said.

She winked at him and walked off with Janine.

Kurt leaned into Chandler and said, "So, Janine's been telling her friends that I'm cute, huh?"

"Well, to be fair, Roxanne is my friend too."

Kurt hip checked him. "I see."

"What? You're gorgeous. It's not like she was telling lies about you or something."

Kurt had no retort. "Where's the closest place I can get away with kissing you?"

"Well, I've seen about 30 straight couples kissing right here in the gym. So, here's good." He stepped a little closer and kissed Kurt sweetly.

Kurt blushed. He hadn't expected Chandler to just kiss him out in the open. He couldn't suppress the huge grin on his face. "Will you dance with me?"

"Of course," Chandler answered, as he pulled Kurt towards the crowd of students dancing.

They stepped closer together and began slow dancing together. They had come up with a comfortable way to slow dance a few weeks back. Kurt closed his eyes and let himself get lost in the comfort of Chandler's embrace. Chandler nuzzled into Kurt's neck, so full of happiness that it was visible from across the room. After a couple of slower songs, the music changed to an upbeat song.

Chandler loosened his grip slightly. "Let's go get our pictures taken. The line should be shorter now."

Kurt nodded.

Chandler kept hold of his hand as he snaked them through the crowd to the photo booth area. They posed nicely for a couple, and then their smiles broke free so that they were nearly laughing in the last two. A few of Chandler's friends walked up and joined in a group photo.

When they were walking back to the dance floor, Kurt said, "That's one thing I hadn't considered. I won't get a prom picture with Sam since I didn't go."

"What if we stop by there when we leave here? You could get him to bring someone else's ticket stub out with him and you could go back in with him long enough to do the photo booth with him."

"Good idea."

"We can leave before they do the King and Queen crowning near the end. We can make it to McKinley before it ends."

"More dancing?"

"Definitely more dancing."

Throughout the evening, Chandler introduced Kurt to a few people he hadn't met before. They sat for a while and talked to some of the guys they'd gone out to the movies with a couple of times and some of the guys on the baseball team and their girlfriends. Much to Kurt's surprise, it was a fun and relaxed evening. They took one last group photo of the seniors on the baseball team and their dates before they left.

Kurt texted Sam on the way to McKinley. Sam met him at the gym entrance and took him inside. They went to the photo booth first and took a couple of serious shots and a couple of silly shots. Tina saw him and rounded everyone up to take a group shot.

She stood in front of him and Mike in the photo. Once the photos were done, she turned back to face him. "I'm glad you stopped by."

"Me too." Before Finn could get too far away, he called out. "Hey, Finn!"

"Yeah?"

He motioned for him to come back.

Finn sent Rachel on ahead and turned back to see what Kurt wanted. Mike and Tina walked off behind Rachel.

"Stand here and take a nice picture with me. I know Carole was disappointed that she wasn't going to be able to get a picture of both of us dressed up."

"Good idea." He moved and stood just slightly behind Kurt and smiled for a couple of shots.

"Thanks. I'm going to head out now before Figgins gets the idea to have me crown this year's Prom Queen."

"See ya!" He turned and headed back into the crowd to find Rachel.

Kurt found Sam and gave him the ticket stub. "Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, no problem."

A few minutes later, Kurt walked in front of the Navigator, so Chandler would see him and not jump when he unlocked the driver's door to get in.

"Did it go okay?"

"Yeah, I even managed to get a decent picture with Finn, so Carole will be happy."

"Cool. Ready to do our quick change and head up to the lake?"

"I am. We'll zoom in, leave our tuxes in your room, shower quickly, put our sweats on, and head out."


	13. Chapter 13

They had made the one and a half hour drive to Sterling State Park the evening before without any problems.

Chandler's phone alarm went off and they sat up and had the cinnamon apple walnut muffins that Kurt had packed along with a bottle of apple juice.

"This was a really fun idea," Chandler said, when he finished eating.

Kurt reached out for Chandler he pulled him closer and kissed him. Chandler pushed Kurt down on his back before lying down next to him. Kurt rolled onto his side and continued their kissing. Chandler kissed down Kurt's neck, controlling himself from pushing farther.

"It's a romantic idea. You have lots of them and I've enjoyed every single one."

Kurt shifted closer to Chandler, "Me too. But as much as I'm enjoying this, we need to get moving. Come on." Kurt grabbed his keys, put them in his pocket, opened the back door, and climbed out.

Chandler grabbed the beach towel and their jackets out of the front seat. Kurt reached into his pocket and hit the lock button on the remote before he slipped his jacket on and took Chandler's hand. They made a quick stop at the restrooms, and then headed for the beach. Even in the near dark, it wasn't even a 5-minute walk. They spread the towel out and sat down to wait.

"I had fun last night," Kurt said.

"Me too." Chandler reached over and took Kurt's hand and interlaced their fingers. "I always have fun when we're together."

Kurt leaned into him and put his head on Chandler's shoulders. "So do I. We've been together for seven weeks, but it seems longer – in a good way. I really glad you got up the nerve to talk to me that day in the music store."

"Me too." He chuckled.

"What?" Kurt lifted his head up and looked at Chandler.

"When people ask how we met, I'm going to tell them 'In Between the Sheets'." He cracked up laughing.

"I'm going to have to think of something really good to bribe you with to _not_ tell people that."

"Oh, really? Maybe I should start to think of things worth trading my silence for." He kissed Kurt.

Kurt sat up a little straighter and looked towards the horizon where the sunlight was just beginning to make an appearance. It was cloudy at the horizon line and Kurt wondered how that would affect the sunrise, but he was surprised ten minutes later when the sun was a giant yellow-orange ball in the sky and the clouds turned a magnificent deep pink-orange.

"It looks more like a sunset than a sunrise," Chandler said. "It's beautiful." He took a few photos with his phone.

"It really is. It's spectacular." Kurt took a few photos with his camera and his phone.

They sat leaning into each other for another ten minutes before either one of them said anything else. Chandler felt Kurt start to shiver a bit. He wrapped his arm around Kurt's waist.

"Want to get up and walk around a bit and try to warm up?"

"Yeah. It's mostly my feet. Flip flops weren't a good choice. For the sand, yes, but the temperature, no. Let's walk down and wade, even though I'm going to totally freeze my feet. We'll go take warm showers and then snuggle more in the cargo area."

"Okay, but let's take a selfie first." He took a few shots of them with the warm glow of the sunrise illuminating their faces. Once he was happy with the results, he got up and waited for Kurt to get up. He picked up the towel and shook it out a few feet from where they had been sitting. He followed Kurt down to the water and reached for his hand when he got close enough. He pulled his pants legs up and stepped to the water, which was rolling in and out in shallow waves. "Ooh, it's freezing, but too cool to resist doing."

Kurt pulled his sweatpants up and stepped into the water. They walked a little ways swinging their hands between them. Kurt's mind wandered a little to the simultaneous sensations of warmth flowing through him from holding Chandler's hand and the ice cold water lapping at his ankles and pushing chills through him from the bottom up. He squeezed Chandler's hand, which made him turn and look at Kurt. He stepped in front of Kurt and wrapped his arms around him. They stood wrapped in each other's arms, looking out towards the completely risen sun. When Chandler felt Kurt shiver again, he loosened his hold and took Kurt's hand again. They made their way back to the camping area to get ready for the day.

* * *

At the end of the day, Kurt and Chandler headed back to Lima. Kurt reached over the center console and put his hand on Chandler's leg.

"You were right, you know?"

"About what?"

"That not everything about Ohio is terrible. I grew up with such a chip on my shoulder about being here. The younger grades were mostly just being ignored, which was lonely. Once I got older and people started bullying me more intensely, I withdrew, but I also verbally lashed out at them and the plebeian ways of everyone I didn't deem worthy of breathing the same air I did. We've talked about my Ice King persona before."

Chandler nodded. "Mmm hmm."

"But going places with you the last seven weeks has shown me another side of Ohio. Today's sunrise over Lake Eerie was absolutely breathtaking. The fantastic exhibits at the art museum, the stunning glass work, and then the botanic gardens were so beautiful with so many flowers in bloom. My mom would have loved it there. She loved flowers. I can just barely remember helping her plants flowers at our old house. And the picnic with the PFLAG group in the park afterwards was cool. We've lived so close to each other geographically, but we've had such different experiences. It's just so strange to think about. Anyway, I just really enjoyed today."

"Me too."

"I know it probably seems weird, but I really appreciate how you've just included me in your life."

"I'm glad you've become part of my life. I like bringing you to things I'm involved in. How are your rehearsals for Nationals going?"

"Better than before. Now that Coach Sue is being less of a nuisance, it's better. There's at least hope that we will have all three songs ready by the end of the week."

"That's a definite improvement of what you said happened last year."

"It is."

* * *

The next week was filled with before- and after-school rehearsals for Nationals. They managed to get the dances down by Tuesday, giving them six rehearsals to fine tune their performances, which was more than they had ever managed in the past. Due to the long rehearsal on Tuesday, Kurt didn't make it to Chandler's game.

* * *

Wednesday during Glee rehearsal, before they started to actually rehearse, Sam continued with his quest to make sure that everyone knew what Kurt meant to him. He stood in front of the piano and looked at the band and pointed both of his index fingers. They started to play and everyone quieted down. He started to sing Queen's "You're My Best Friend". Before the chorus, he walked up the risers and pulled Kurt down onto the floor with him and danced around and got Kurt to go along with it. At the end of the song, he pulled Kurt into a hug. He tilted his head and gave Blaine a once over on the way back up to sit next to Kurt.

Chandler came over for dinner when he got off. Kurt, Chandler, and Sam did their homework together quickly before going out to the movies with the group of guys that they hung out with from North Lima.

* * *

Thursday after rehearsal, Rachel called out to Kurt before he made it to the door. He stopped and turned back. She waited until everyone else had left before she said anything.

"Can you come sit down for a minute?"

"Sure. I have a shift at the shop though."

She nodded. "I'll try to be quick."

He sat down and faced her. He crossed his legs and looked her directly in the eyes.

"So, Saturday, I came to try to talk to you, but you were on your way out. I hadn't considered that you'd be busy. That's my fault for not asking you if I could come talk to you." She fiddled with the hem of her skirt nervously. "Look, I've been going to my new therapist for about a month now. I've learned a lot about myself, quite a bit of it unpleasant. I think the rivalry started because we both had a crush on Finn. I was on the lowest social ladder, just like you."

"But you had the ability to change that. I didn't."

"That may very well be, but at the time I didn't have the self-awareness to know how to change it on my own. I thought Finn was nice and cute."

"As did I. And I learned the hard way that it's never appropriate for a gay teen to let his crush on a straight guy show. I realize that I'm not blameless, but you do know that Finn never actually said anything to me, right? Anyway, that doesn't matter anymore. It would have never worked out with me and Finn, even if he were bi or gay, and not just because he's my stepbrother now."

As she smoothed her skirt out, took a deep breath, and sighed. "From everything I've learned the last month, you've put up with me far longer than my therapist seems to find reasonable. I'm not sure what that means about you, but it made me think about my actions."

"I'll tell you what it means about me. It means that up until recently, I was willing to put up with just about anything from people who were decent to me even in small ways, even people who still hurt me and didn't apologize. Having a group of people who at least allowed me to be a part of the group, even if not a well-liked member was better than having absolutely no one like I did my freshman year. You have been a friendly acquaintance, a friend at times, and for a brief time, you were my best friend, but all of those times were always punctuated by interims of you treating me terribly and actively seeking to sabotage me in some way. I became accustomed to the whiplash."

"I see."

"Probably not. I've found that most people don't really remember the hurtful things they say to other people in the heat of the moment, but the person on the receiving end definitely does."

"What do you mean?"

"Last year when I came home for the night after Blaine had announced the GAP Attack and his love for Jeremiah the junior manager, you knew how devastated I was. And yet two weeks later, you made out with Blaine and then asked him out on a date. You went after what I wanted. When we met up that day after school for you to kiss him sober, do you remember what you said to me?"

She shook her head slightly. "No, I don't."

"I do. When I told you there was no victory in the situation for me, either way. You said, 'Who cares about you, Buddy? I might get a new boyfriend out of this, who can keep up with me vocally, and in the future, give me vaguely Eurasian-looking children.'"

"Oh. That was really terrible of me. Why did you even keep speaking to me?"

"I just explained that. If I had stopped being friends with anyone who still said or did hurtful things, I would have been alone. I chose being hurt over being alone."

"Oh."

"If I only associated with people who have always treated me kindly, the list would be very short. Sophomore year, I guess it would have just been Tina. Junior year, I could have added Sam and Lauren, except that I couldn't be friendly with Sam at school. And I was only in Glee with Lauren for six weeks or something. And by then, Tina was dating Mike and spending all of her free time with him. This fall, Rory joined. And then this semester Sugar and Joe joined. None of them are seniors, so I don't have any classes with them. Honestly, other than Sam, the rest of them don't really talk to me. Sam and I do things together at home, but I avoided spending time alone with him in public to keep the other jocks from hassling him, especially with your nosiness leading to him being wrongly outed as bisexual and having an affair with me and Quinn.

"I've done a lot of things without considering the outcome."

"Yes, you have. That particular time caused a lot of strain on my ability to be friends with him publicly. Obviously, he's decided that he's willing to take whatever they dish out the last few weeks of school since he serenaded me and he's been walking through the halls with his arm wrapped around my shoulders and sitting with me in the cafeteria all the time now."

"I've noticed the increase in his level of physicality with you."

He sighed heavily. "Look, I know that I haven't been 100% kind to you, but we've been rivals for no real reason other than the fact that you declared war on me in a way. I was never a threat to you as the female lead of the group. It was fine for Artie and Blaine to split the lead on 'Control' at a public competition, but it wasn't okay for me to sing an in-class duet with Sam. The rules are different for me. If I had been given a lead, the most that could have happened to you would have been to share it with me. We could have done a great rendition of 'What is this Feeling?'. I wouldn't have been singing a duet with a guy, and just listening to the song itself, it's not an overtly female/female duet. We sounded fantastic on the Judy Garland/Barbra Streisand duet. Most of the people in the audience, and even the judges, probably wouldn't have known that either of those songs was meant for two females. You just wanted the limelight all to yourself and Finn or Blaine. Just not me."

"You're right. You're really talented. I was insecure. You can sing in the same range that I can, so I put you in the 'rival' category, which you weren't. I didn't treat you the way I should have. There's nothing I can do now except apologize. I've learned from my mistakes, but at your expense, not my own. I called NYADA the week after we got our letters. I asked for the notes on my audition. Madame Tibideaux's remark about me channeling Barbra was not the compliment that I took it to be that day. Her notes made it clear that I need to find my own voice and myself. She was unable to determine whether I had the ability to 'be' anyone besides a Barbra impersonator. There were comments about seeking vocal training and unlearning my over-the-top facial expressions. I started later that same week with a new teacher in Toledo. He says I'm making progress quickly. I was also docked for not demonstrating some sort of choreography since the video submissions I turned in were of me just singing. There was a comment about me singing the song so perfectly that it was devoid of feeling."

"I see. So, what are you going to do?"

"I'm not sure yet. I just wanted to apologize to you for butting in to something that was none of my business. Blaine's a mess still. I made a joke to Finn back when I had laryngitis that time about being Tinkerbell and needing applause to live, but Blaine is a lot more of a Tinkerbell than I am. He's bemoaning the lack of a lead at Nationals. I've tried to point out numerous times that he's a junior and he had leads at Sectionals and Regionals. Plus, he has another chance to shine and the seniors don't, but he just insists that we'd have a better chance of winning with him on lead."

"Sounds about right. He's not my concern anymore though. I think what we've prepared is good. I'm honestly happy just to be going with everything already rehearsed instead of the insanity of last year."

"I feel the same way. I'm actually doing my best to not spend time with him. He keeps calling and texting me though. What happened…is still hard to believe." She shook her head. "I'm not going to pry again, but I'm glad whatever is going on with you makes you look as happy as you have for the last month or so since I started paying attention."

Kurt smiled. "Look, I'm glad to hear that you've started to make changes that will benefit you and your future. I really am. I think the voice lessons with someone who can help you with your stage presence is a great idea." He picked his bag back up and stood up. "My dad's been really lenient with my hours this week since we've had so many extra rehearsals, but I need to get going."

"I understand. Thanks for listening."

"You're welcome."

She jumped up. "I'm going to hug you now."

He hugged back with his free arm. He took a step back. "I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning to rehearse one last time before we leave tomorrow after school."

She nodded. "Actually, can you drop me off at Walgreen's on your way to the shop? I need to pick up a few things for the trip. Daddy said he could pick me up there when he gets off."

"Sure. Let's go."

* * *

After school Friday, the New Directions loaded their bags on the bus and settled in. The five hour drive was noisy because they spent most of the time alternating between people singing solos and singing songs from past competitions and random popular songs that came to mind.

Kurt sat with Sam and enjoyed the time more than he thought he would. He knew he was going to miss being part of the group, despite the three years of drama and nonsense.

When they got to the hotel, they unpacked the bus as quickly as possible. They had stopped along the way for dinner, so they were all sent to their rooms to rest and go to bed early since they had drawn first position the next morning.

* * *

As the curtain went up, Rachel stood center stage with Mercedes and Tina to her left and Kurt and Artie to her left. She started the first verse "Get it Right" as a solo, but the girls and then the guys joined in singing in harmony. At the first chorus, Rory, Joe, Sam, Puck, Blaine, Finn, and Mike entered the stage paired with Sugar and the six Cheerios that were part of the Troubletones. Santana and Brittany danced together. They did a waltz-like dance around the stage, slowly joining in to sing with the five feature singers. By the end, the whole group was singing together.

Kurt was surprised to see Madame Tibideaux in the audience in the seat next to Mr. Schue.

When the song ended, the stage went dark and the Troubletones took their positions for "Edge of Glory". Quinn and Tina had both joined the group. Santana and Mercedes had the bulk of the lead, but Quinn, Brittany, and Tina were also featured.

When Sue got involved and the fighting over what to sing at Nationals had started and Kurt refused to dress in drag, Kurt suggested that they use Rachel's song from the year before. During lunch the next day, Kurt went to the choir room and performed an original song for Mr. Schue. He asked to perform it again for the whole group and be given a chance to be featured at Nationals with a vote from the club. His song was next to be performed.

The stage went dark, and they reset again. This time all of the guys reassembled around the stage. The intro started. The music itself had a retro N*Sync and Backstreet Boys feel – upbeat and very danceable. Kurt struck a different pose every four beats. After the first two lines, the rest of the guys imitated him.

While they all sang in 5-part harmony, Kurt moved through the guys around the stage, "assessing" their ability to do the moves.

_More than one question persists.  
As the final chapter in the book is near,  
The end's left open when the plot twists.  
Uncountable times we hear,  
We can be anything we want to be.  
Where's the book to teach me to be me?_

By the second verse, all of them had "learned" the moves. They moved from there to spread out across the stage and danced in lines in unison similar to the way they had during their first Invitational doing the simple moves Kurt had "taught" them.

_Time is spent rereading and reminiscing.  
Day by day we face our fears.  
Yet the last pages are still missing.  
Will the future be filled with laughter or tears?  
We're left wondering what it all means.  
It's close, so much closer than it seems._

At the first chorus, Mike broke out of the line and he upped the difficulty level, with Joe, Sam, and Blaine successfully doing the more difficult steps, while the others continued doing the easier steps.

_Pushing forwards towards the edge of the nest.  
Surveying, looking around.  
Wondering what's going to happen next.  
Will we soar or hit the ground?_

Kurt and Mike danced a duet playing off each other dance-off style while the others watched.

_And time rushes on,  
So many paths before me,  
Each day beginning with a new dawn.  
Sunlight in my eyes making it harder to see.  
How will I know,  
Which way to go?_

During the chorus, the ones doing the harder steps, moved up to doing even more complicated steps with Mike, while Rory and Puck learned the steps the others had done previously.

_Pushing forwards towards the edge of the nest.  
Surveying, looking around.  
Wondering what's going to happen next.  
Will we soar or hit the ground?_

_Thoughts and ideas clash,  
As today becomes the past.  
The days pass in a flash  
We're moving so fast.  
And suddenly, somehow,  
Tomorrow is now._

During the last chorus, the guys went all out and moved into a V formation and pulled off the most complicated steps Mike could get them to do in unison.

_Pushing forwards towards the edge of the nest.  
Surveying, looking around,  
Wondering what's going to happen next.  
Will we soar or hit the ground? _

During the last section they moved into a tighter V and at the end Kurt, Blaine, and Mike leap frog pike jumped over Sam, Joe, and Rory.

_We've been waiting to fly!  
Jump. It's time to fly!  
Watch me fly.  
Watch me fly!_

They bowed and the curtain came down.

* * *

After everyone had changed and had grabbed their personal possessions, they left to go sit in the balcony to watch the rest of the groups perform.

Kurt took his phone out to text Chandler to let him know that it had gone well. When he turned his phone back on, he was surprised to find several texts from Chandler – texts that let him know that Chandler was in the audience somewhere.

-You look great.

-You sound fantastic.

-I just looked in the program. You wrote that song.

-You're amazing.

Kurt texted him back quickly.

-Where are you? I was going to tell you that it went well. But you're here somewhere?

Chandler had his phone in his hand, set to silent. He felt it vibrate with Kurt's text. He looked down and answered.

-Officially – Balcony center section, three rows back from the railing. Enter through the stage right door. Your parents and mine are there, as well as Janine. I'm on the stairs headed up there now. While you were on stage, I sat on the main level in someone's seat that was late.

-Sneaky. I'm on my way up to the balcony. Go in the men's bathroom, balcony level, stage right. I'll be there soon.

Kurt stopped Mr. Schue. "My parents are here. I'm going to go sit with them for a little bit. I'll come back over to the group before lunch."

"That's fine, Kurt."

He hurried off to the other stairwell on the opposite side of the foyer. He rushed up the stairs and into the bathroom. He opened the door and Chandler was washing his hands. He finished and dried them quickly. Kurt pressed a hurried kiss to his lips.

"I can't believe you're here."

"You were amazing."

"Thank you." Kurt glanced back towards the door again and turned back and kissed Chandler once more. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but I want to wait until after our Showcase performance, if we get in, before anyone sees us together. I've told you how nosy everyone in the group is. I'm not embarrassed by you in any way. I just don't want to start a drama-filled day of being interrogated."

"I know. It's fine. We're only staying for an hour. We're going to go watch the White Sox practice. You can text me later this afternoon when you find out if you made it to the Showcase. Tomorrow we're all going to the aquarium."

"Got it." He kissed Chandler once more. "I'm going to go sit in your seat for one performance."

"Okay."

Kurt went in quietly and sat down between his dad and James. Burt put his hand on Kurt's shoulder and leaned in. "You were great, Kiddo."

"Thanks. I'm just staying for a few minutes before I go back to sit with the group. Chandler told me about your plans."

Burt nodded.

When the group finished, Kurt got up and left. He and Chandler went back into the bathroom for a few more kisses. Chandler went back to his seat. Kurt slipped in the back on the other side of the balcony, made his way down a few rows, and sat in the empty seat that Sam had saved for him.

Sam looked over at him confused.

He leaned in and spoke very quietly. "My parents, Janine, Chandler, and his parents are here, but they're leaving soon to go do some baseball thing."

Sam nodded.

* * *

They all hit the bathrooms at the lunch break before meeting up to eat. Kurt was standing leaned against the wall in the lobby when Madame Tibideaux seemed to suddenly appear before him.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Hummel."

"Madame Tibideaux." He nodded slightly.

"I was quite disappointed to get your letter turning down your place at NYADA. If I may ask, where did you choose to go instead?"

"FIT."

"Fashion design?"

"Yes, ma'am. I've wanted to pursue both careers for quite a while, but FIT offered me a generous financial aid package and the cost is within my family's budget. I'm going to give it a chance. If it doesn't turn out to be what I want to do, I'll change directions. I'm still hoping to find a way to do both at some point in the future."

"I see. That's a lofty goal, but you are a man of many talents and obviously considerable ambition, backed by hard work. I noticed that the song you performed was written by you."

"Yes, ma'am. I wrote the lyrics and melody and harmonization. The jazz band members helped me with the orchestration."

"Well, it was very well done. I commend you on such a heartfelt song. As this is my first year as Dean, I am making a few new rules of my own. I am going to defer your admission for a year. If after two semesters at FIT, you find yourself leaning back towards performing, you will have a place at NYADA waiting for you. I would appreciate it if you let me know by early March, so that I can reserve your place. I wish you the best."

"That's very generous of you. Thank you."

"You are most welcome. And should you ever decide that you'd like to stage _Pip, Pip Hooray!_ , I know just the man and group who could help you with that. It wouldn't be Broadway, but you'd at least get to see it performed."

"That's intriguing, to say the least."

"Keep the possibility in mind. You wouldn't happen to know where Miss Berry is, would you?"

"She should be back here any minute. This is where we were told to meet Mr. Schuester for lunch. I'll try texting her to see if she can come now." He sent her a text.

She nodded.

A couple of minutes later, Rachel walked up. Kurt saw how tense she was, but she relaxed her face as she approached. They were far enough away that Kurt couldn't hear them speaking.

"Madame Tibideaux?" Kurt watched Rachel's expression change from bewildered to stunned as she listened to Madame Tibideaux speak.

"Miss Berry. I was quite impressed with your improvement in the last six weeks. As I told Mr. Hummel, as it is my first year as Dean, I am making a few changes. We have received back the acceptance letters from the students we offered places to originally. One student turn down their place. I would like to offer you that place for next fall. I would like to see a production of some sort under your belt when you arrive, even if you play flower number two. I would like you to see how real theater works. Your school productions have been put on by unqualified directors, and from what I could see on your CV, you have been given quite a bit of preferential treatment – a common case of 'big fish, little pond'. That will not help you at NYADA. You need to be able to withstand criticism and make appropriate changes quickly. We do not have room for 18-year-old divas. Our school expects excellence in performance and attitude. You will be attending a school where everyone is as talented as you are, but 95% of the musical theatre students have more training and experience than you. Most of the incoming freshmen have significantly more performance experience than you – the 'big fish, little pond' syndrome again."

Rachel's smile was spilling out her eyes. "I understand, Madame Tibideaux."

"I would also highly recommend that you enroll in jazz and modern dance at a dance school in a large city. If you move to New York, there are several that would be suitable. Feel free to call my office to get the list. Or you could enroll in a course at NYADA this summer."

"Yes, ma'am."

"You will be receiving a new letter, which you will need to return to officially accept your place."

She nodded. "Thank you, Madame Tibideaux."

"You're being given this rare opportunity because rather than doing what I'm sure came to your mind first, such as begging or hounding me, you heeded the suggestions given in the notes from your audition. You took proactive steps to improve your already formidable talent. You can thank me by working hard at NYADA to become as great as I think you can be."

"Yes, ma'am."

Madame Tibideaux walked towards the concessions area and got in line.

Rachel came bounding over to Kurt, but spoke quietly. "She said I had improved so much that she is offering me a spot. I'm going to NYADA!" She squealed, but very quietly. "I have to go call my dads. Tell Mr. Schue that I'm right out the front doors, but don't tell him about NYADA."

Kurt nodded.

Mr. Schue hustled everyone outside a couple of minutes later. "Our food's here." He looked around. "Where's Rachel?"

Kurt spoke up.

"Fine. Come on, everyone. Coach Beiste and Coach Sue have our food."

They followed him out and ate their subs on the stairs outside.

* * *

At 5:00, Santana went to check the Showcase list. She came back strutting.

"We're on the list. We need to be ready again in an hour."

Kurt texted Chandler and told him while he stood in line for a bottle of water and some breakfast bars that Coach Sue and Coach Beiste were handing out to tide them over until they could eat dinner afterwards. He followed the group back to the green room area. They warmed up, stretched, touched up their make up, and changed.

They performed fourth and did as well as they had that morning. After all ten groups had performed, Mr. Schuester received a text to take the New Directions to the wings. Once they got there, the top three groups moved out onto the stage and the curtain went up.

The groups were named in reverse order. When the second place group was named, it was all the New Directions could do to stay quiet to hear:

"And in first place this year, the New Directions from Lima, Ohio."

* * *

Mr. Schue had traditional Chicago-style pizzas delivered to the hotel. They sat around tables in a small conference room.

"I'm so proud of you guys," he said. "First place. You did it."

They all clapped and cheered.

"So, tomorrow morning, everyone needs to meet in the lobby at 9:00 with all of your stuff. We're going to park the bus down near the pier. You can choose between the Field Museum with Coach Beiste, the Shedd Aquarium with me and Miss Pillsbury, and the Adler Planetarium with Coach Sue, like we already discussed. We'll be leaving the parking lot at 4:00 sharp. That will put us back in Lima around 11:00."

Mr. Schue got Kurt's attention and took him into the hallway. "I already know about the alternative plan your parents have for you tomorrow."

Kurt nodded. "Right."

"Go on back in and eat."

* * *

They next morning at 8:00, Kurt put his bag in the back and crawled over the third row seat and sat down next to Chandler. Kurt took his hand and interlaced their fingers as soon as he fastened his seat belt.

Carole looked back at the two of them from the backseat, where she, Janine, and Sharon were sitting. "We know the two of you just visited the aquarium not quite two months ago, but you both made it sound like so much fun that we all wanted to go with you before you run off to New York."

Burt pulled out and James directed him to the parking area closest to the aquarium. Before they got inside, Kurt's phone started ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket without letting go of Chandler's hand. He walked along with the group as they headed inside.

"Dude, where are you? Sam said you already left. I need to talk to you."

"I'm with Dad and Carole. We left early to go to the aquarium because Dad's going back to DC this afternoon. He thought you'd want to hang out with the guys."

"I don't. I want to talk to you. Me, Puck, and Sam going to the aquarium. I'll text you when we get there, so you can tell me where you are."

"Just so you know, Chandler's parents, Chandler, and Janine are here too."

"Got it."


	14. Chapter 14

Puck came running up behind Finn. "Dude, why'd you run off without me?"

"I need to talk to Kurt."

"Then, let's grab our tickets and go find him," Sam said when he caught up.

Five minutes later, the three of them took off to meet up with Kurt. Puck and Sam gave Finn space and went over to look in a tank with everyone else. Sam introduced Puck to everyone in the group. They continued to walk down the row of tanks.

Finn took Kurt far enough away that no one could hear them.

"Rachel's going to New York."

"I know. Madame Tibideaux was there yesterday. She offered Rachel a spot."

"She broke up with me."

"And how does that make you feel?"

"I don't know. I think relieved is the best word I can think of."

"Well, then, there you are. You wanted to call it off weeks ago, but decided to be a man of your word, which you were. She's called it off, so you're single."

"Can I tell you a secret?"

"Of course, Finn. But if it's that you have a crush on Janine, I know."

"How do you know?"

"You start to blush slightly and stammer when you come in the room and she's there."

"Oh. Does she think I'm a loser for getting all tongue-tied or whatever?"

"Not that I'm aware of. Why don't you, Sam, and Puck just stay with us until Carole and Dad leave? You three can go back and look at what you missed after they're gone."

"Good plan. Come on. I want to see everything. This place is awesome." He hurried towards the group.

Kurt went to where Chandler was standing, took his hand, and interlaced their fingers.

He turned to look at Kurt, the surprise evident in his eyes.

Kurt just squeezed his hand and smiled. He stepped closer. "Nationals is over. No more potential for causing a rift in the group. From now on, if people want to cause a wedge between us, they're just not going to be part of my life."

Chandler nodded and squeezed his hand.

Carole stopped and watched the sea horses for quite a while. "This place is every bit as amazing as Kurt and Chandler said it was. I could spend days in here."

Puck said, "The sea horses are really cool. Sam and I decided that we could see fossils and historical stuff in books, but there aren't many places like this."

"This place is even bigger than the aquarium in the Smokies I went to before we moved to Ohio. It's awesome."

Kurt saw Finn talking to Janine about how excited he was to see a real whale. He smiled and continued on looking through the whole area with Chandler.

They opted for a slightly early lunch and ate at the same place that Kurt and Chandler had. Since it was nice out, they all took their trays out and ate on the patio.

"Oh, this is nice," Sharon said, as she stepped outside.

Chandler looked over at her and saw her wink at him. He nodded and smiled.

"This is a nice view," James agreed, as he followed her out the door.

Once they finished eating, the whole group walked the short distance down to the lakefront and stayed for about ten minutes before going back inside.

"Whales," Puck said. "I need to see the whales. Come on."

A few minutes later, everyone stood along the viewing area watching the beluga whales.

"This is worth the whole admission price. They're huge," Puck said.

"You can see them underwater when we go down one more level," Kurt said.

"Awesome," Sam said. "Let's look at everything else on this floor before go down there. I want to see the dolphins and sea lions and otters and penguins too."

* * *

Finn and Kurt stepped outside to say their goodbyes to Burt and Carole before they left in a taxi to go the airport.

Finn put his phone in his pocket and said, "Mr. Schue said it's fine. Sam's going to grab my stuff and drive my truck back home once they get to the school. We rode up together."

"That's fine," Carole said. "Burt and I will be home again Thursday."

They all hugged before Finn and Kurt went back in. They met back up with the rest of the group.

Kurt said, "Since most of us have seen everything, we could split up for now and go back to see the things we liked the most. We can meet back at the exit at 5:00. Puck and Sam have to leave earlier."

Chandler said, "I want to go back down to watch the whales and dolphins more."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Kurt said, "That seems like everyone's favorite part. We'll head that way. We can split up from there."

They all stood around watching them for a while again.

* * *

As Kurt and Chandler rounded the corner from the underwater dolphin exhibit to watch the otters again, they nearly bumped into Santana and Brittany.

"Well, hot damn. Porcelain's caught himself a new man." She looked Chandler up and down. "Santana Lopez."

He responded excitedly, "Chandler Kiehl. You were fantastic in 'Edge of Glory'!"

"Thanks." She was surprised to be offered a compliment so easily. She looked at Kurt. "I like him."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Me too, but he's taken."

Brittany hugged Kurt. "Why didn't you tell me you had a new boyfriend?"

"Because I didn't want people to make a big deal out of it and take sides."

"Wait," Santana said.

Kurt gave Santana his Ice King glare.

She didn't continue with what she was going to say.

"I like your name," Brittany said. "I don't know anyone else with that name. That makes you unique. Maybe I'll change my name now that I'm 18. There are too many people named Brittany. Did you like the whales? I could hear them talking. It made me kind of sad that I can't understand them because but I don't speak whale like Dory."

"Me neither," Chandler responded, not having any idea what to say until it dawned on him. "I've watched your _Fondue for Two_ channel. Lord Tubbington is great."

A huge smile spread across her face as she perked up. "He is, isn't he?"

"I have a cat named Queenie, but she manages to stay out of trouble more than Lord Tubbington."

She led Chandler away and they talked about their cats while they watched the otters.

"So, that's Mr. Between-the-Sheets?"

"That's where we met, yes."

"And you weren't cheating on Blaine?"

"Nope. I asked him out as friends after Blaine and I broke up. He's going to school in New York too. I thought it might be nice to know someone ahead of time."

"And now he's your boyfriend?"

"Yep. Please don't say anything about Blaine. He knows I had a boyfriend before, but I didn't name names. He and his parents and his cousin came all the way here to watch Nationals. And none of them even knew that I had the lead on anything. I know somewhere inside your barely-there heart, you like me at least a little. You're the one that came up with a way for me to come back last year. Don't go interrogate him. Give me this, please."

"Fine. You're right. I do like you – at least sort of. Anyway, you and the Hobbit broke up like two months ago. You have the right to move on."

He nodded.

They rejoined Brittany and Chandler. Brittany linked pinkies with Santana when she got close enough. Kurt wrapped his arm around Chandler's waist. He looked over at Kurt and smiled as he reached out and did the same.

* * *

Monday morning the New Directions met in the parking lot like Mr. Schue had told them to. They walked into the building together and saw banner had been hung across the hall congratulating them. They were shocked by the group of students welcoming them and cheering for them. Kurt reflexively folded in on himself when a jock holding a slushie cup pulled his arm back, but he was pleasantly surprised when confetti came flying out instead of the dreaded ice-cold liquid. They carried the trophy into the choir room and put it in the case before heading off to their first period classes.

* * *

They had a celebration after school with sparkling cider. Mr. Schue let them go early after giving them an assignment of performing a goodbye song during their final club meetings. Kurt left to go to work afterwards.

As soon as Kurt clocked out after his shift, he scurried off to the employee lounge to clean up and change. He came out wearing just his undershirt. He had planned to put the North Lima hoodie on when he got to the Navigator, but he opened the backseat to realize that it wasn't there. He hopped in and drove home to get it. When he got there, he stopped in the kitchen to get a drink.

Sam laughed at him. "You're going out in just an undershirt?"

"No, of course not. I left my North Lima hoodie here by accident. As soon as I put it on, I'm heading back out."

Sam followed him upstairs and asked, "So things are going well still?"

"Yep. He's a sweetie. It's just easy and fun."

"I'm glad for you. You deserve easy and fun and sweet. There's some passion and desire in there somewhere too, right? You do actually like him as more than just a friend, right?"

"I do." Kurt grabbed the hoodie off the edge of the dresser where he had accidentally left it that morning. He pulled it on.

"Good."

Kurt headed into the bathroom to touch his hair up and came right back out.

"Oh! I talked to my family last night. Stevie and Stacey are excited to come for graduation. Last night they told me that it was 12 days until they'd get to see me. I've missed them a lot. But I'm going to miss you a ton. Why can't everyone just live in the same town?" he bemoaned.

"That would be tough since I want a to live in a big city and you don't."

"I know. I'm going to come visit though. Maybe at some point you can come visit me, once I get a place of my own."

"That would be fun." Headed back down the stairs. "Sorry to run out on you. You could come with me if you want."

"No can do. I have to study."

"See ya later!" Kurt said as he got back into the Navigator. He waved as he drove off towards North Lima to watch the game. He texted when he got there to find out where their friends were sitting.

* * *

Wednesday afternoon, Chandler hopped into the passenger seat after putting his bag in the back seat. He leaned over to kiss Kurt before he fastened his seat belt.

"I have our prom pictures."

"Are they any good?"

"I think so. I'll show you when we get up to your room."

Kurt pulled out of the lot and headed towards the grocery store. "Congratulations on winning again tonight. I figured you'd be headed to the playoffs."

Chandler responded, "I guess we hadn't talked about it. Our coach told us it was unlikely pretty early in the season. Right from the beginning, there were a few teams that were winning all of their games and a bunch that were losing most of theirs. So, the teams that made it into the playoffs were nearly undefeated. We lost six games, all to those nearly undefeated teams and by a narrow margin. It's okay. We're going to DC the week after graduation. We would have had to postpone the trip by a week if we had made it to the finals."

"I'm really excited about to going to DC."

"Me too. I know we're going to love it there because there are so many places to visit. Zach isn't off that week, but we can still do some stuff with him in the evenings. It's going to be so much fun."

"We'll have eight days in the apartment on our own. We just have to get everyone's ideas together and start to plan our days."

"I really want to start planning now."

Kurt looked over at Chandler as he pulled up into the parking lot. He looked so excited that Kurt couldn't resist his enthusiasm. "You win. A half-hour of planning. Then, we get started on our homework. But ice cream first – to celebrate a great baseball season."

"Deal."

They hopped out and went inside and grabbed a carton of Ben & Jerry's to share. Once they got to the Hummel's, Kurt grabbed two spoons and they went upstairs.

* * *

Kurt fed the last bite of the Cherry Garcia to Chandler. He put the lid back on and put the spoons down on the floor. He sat back up and leaned forward and kissed Chandler. "Mmm. Cherry kisses." He shifted his position and pulled Chandler down on his side. He rolled him halfway onto his back and kissed him again.

They enjoyed several minutes of intense kissing before pausing to catch their breath.

Chandler moved so that he was flat on his back and opened his arm out for Kurt to snuggle into his side, which he did, more than willingly. "In two weeks, we'll have already been in DC for a few days. We'll get to snuggle up like this every night."

"Mmm." Kurt pressed up in the bed to reach Chandler's neck and started kissing along his shirt collar. "We were going to do some planning."

"We were, but we can plan on the phone if we have to. You're here and you're so kissable and snuggly." Chandler turned toward Kurt and kissed him.

"It's hard to believe that in six weeks we'll be headed to New York. I think it's really good that we're going early. It will give us time get the furniture we need and assemble it. Then we can get everything unpacked and organized. We can figure out where everything is and get used to living together before we add classes and homework into the mix."

"The hardest thing to believe is that we got that amazing 1-bedroom apartment. It's huge compared to some of the places we were looking at. We'll have our own bedroom. We'll get that convertible sofa we looked at and a room screen like we talked about to block the living room from the kitchen. That way people can come stay with us without it feeling like they're sleeping out in the open."

"That's what I haven't told you yet. I actually met Cassius' friend Rex in person this afternoon. I told you that Cassius had given him my drawings a few days ago."

"Umm hmm."

"Well, he looked them over and made a couple of minor changes and sent them to the landlord along with his credentials, Monday I guess."

"So what did he say?"

"Well, today he showed me the small revisions and told me the landlord talked to the owner and he agreed to the plans."

"Perfect. Now we'll have a huge closet in the bedroom and a closet in the living room."

"I'm still shocked that we found a place with such a nice bathroom and a real kitchen," Kurt said. "With a full-sized fridge, a real stove, a dishwasher. I think it's going to be amazing."

"Me too. You're a better cook than I am, but you've been a patient teacher and I've already expanded my cooking repertoire. Cooking with you is fun." He kissed Kurt. "I just like being with you whatever we're doing or not doing."

"Me too." He propped up on his elbow. "I just remembered that you said you had our prom pictures."

"Ooh, you're right. I do."

They both sat up and Chandler got them out and showed them to Kurt.

"We look good," Kurt said.

"I think so too."

"The next time we're out, we can look for a frame."

Chandler put them back in the envelope and put them on Kurt's dresser. He got back in the bed with Kurt and kissed him. He took a deep breath and sighed. Kurt rolled back on his back and made room for Chandler to snuggle up to him. Once he did, Kurt started to run his fingers through Chandler's hair, which caused him to moan almost imperceptibly, but Kurt heard it and smiled.

"A week and a half," Kurt said.

"Yep." He rearranged a bit so he could kiss Kurt. "As much as this is amazing, we're supposed to be studying for finals."

"I've lost my motivation. I already got into college and I have straight A's this semester. If I do nothing else, I won't get lower than a B."

"Cut! Those were not the right lines at all. Places again. This time, the right lines with some conviction and determination to do well, Mr. Hummel."

Kurt laughed. "You're right. I should muster up some motivation from somewhere, but I seem to have misplaced it about a week ago. Have you seen it?"

"How about if we both finish our review sheets, we'll give each other a massage?"

"Ooh. Maybe you've helped me find mine," Kurt teased. "I've never had a massage. Very intriguing. 8/10 on the motivational scale."

"Well, I would be honored to give you your first massage and for you to give me my first personal one. I am wondering, though, why it only ranks 8/10."

"Add in some kissing, and you'll get it right up to 10/10."

"There will definitely be kissing." Chandler propped up on his elbow and leaned in to kiss Kurt chastely. He pushed the rest of the way up and retrieved his bag and his study sheets.

"Then we should get to it so we can move on to the fun part." Kurt got up and grabbed his bag as well. He went into his closet for a minute, but before he came out, he said, "Close your eyes." He stepped out and placed a lap desk in front of Chandler. "Open them."

A grin spread across Chandler's face. "Ooh, a wider lap desk. It looks just like yours, except the fabric is different."

"I found it the other day when I stopped a couple of places on the way back home from your game. You had mentioned liking mine because it was wide enough to put a book on and still have room to fit a notebook."

"I'll definitely take this one with us to New York. I've had mine since I was little. My mom got it so I could color while I watched TV." He got himself position comfortably with it. "Thank you."

Kurt leaned over and kissed him. "You're welcome." He grabbed his own out from under his bed and sat down next to Chandler. "Focus." He took a breath in. "Determination." He let it out slowly. "Focus." He took another breath in.

Chandler knocked his knee into Kurt's and started laughing. "That is not helping."

"I'm sorry. I have the biggest case of senior-itis ever." He took another deep breath and sighed. "I'll do it." He got out the study sheets he had and started to fill them in as quickly as he could.

Two hours later, Kurt had finished.

"So?" Kurt asked.

Chandler looked his over. "I have three more questions to answer. How about we both go ahead and shower and put on some of your pajamas? That will make it easier since neither one of us will worry about damaging each other's clothes somehow."

"Works for me. I'll go while you finish your sheet." He got up and grabbed two t-shirts and two pairs of pants. He laid one set on the bed and took the other set into his bathroom, showered quickly, and redressed in the pajamas before he came out. "Your turn."

Chandler had put everything away by the time Kurt came out. He grabbed the pajamas and came back ten minutes later wearing them. He put his folded clothes on Kurt's dresser. He turned around and Kurt kissed him. He reached behind him and turned the room light off, leaving just the small light on the side of his bed still on.

"I figured we'd start with the kissing since we're already good at that."

"Good plan," Chandler said, between kisses. He took a few steps forwards, backing Kurt up to the edge of the bed. "I do really enjoy kissing." He let go of Kurt and pushed him back a little when his legs touched the bed, causing him to sit down. "I'll do you first. Lie down on your stomach." He took a step back so Kurt could pull his legs up onto the bed and roll over. He stretched out and put his arms down to his side with his head facing towards the left where Chandler was.

Chandler kneeled the bed, but stopped when he realized what he was going to have to do. "Maybe you should just sit in your chair backwards and I can rub your shoulders that way."

Kurt play pouted, "That seems like false advertising."

Chandler chuckled. "It's actually just lack of planning. I didn't think about how there's no massage table, so I can't reach you that well."

"Oh, just sit on me. It's fine with me."

"You're sure?"

"Mmm hmm. That's what I had envisioned when you said we could give each other massages. But if it makes you uncomfortable, I'll move to the chair. Whatever you want."

Chandler leaned down and kissed Kurt's cheek before he crawled over him and straddled him. "Okay?"

"Yeah."

He scooted forwards a little so he could reach Kurt's shoulders more easily. He began rubbing them fairly gently. He gradually increased the pressure. "Still okay?"

"Definitely. It feels really good."

Chandler used his thumbs and massaged down Kurt's spine and back up. When he had made it back up to Kurt's neck, he leaned forward and placed gentle kisses across his neck along the edge of his t-shirt.

Kurt was overwhelmed by the obvious care Chandler was using. His tender and gentle touches along with the stress-relieving massage made Kurt feel loved and cherished. He had also never felt so turned on in his entire life. The urge to turn over and kiss Chandler was overwhelming. He started to turn, which caused Chandler to raise up so he could flip over. Once he was on his back, he reached out and put his hand on the side of Chandler's face and slightly around the back of his head. Kurt gingerly pulled him forward just enough to encourage him to lean down, which he did quite willingly and kissed Kurt.

"That felt really good. Thank you."

"My pleasure." He pressed in to kiss Kurt again.

"My turn. Trade me places." Kurt pushed up onto his elbows, still lying on his back and kissed Chandler again. "More kissing after I give you a massage."

Chandler smiled and moved to the side so Kurt could get up. He lay down in the middle and Kurt straddled him and began to rub his shoulders doing what Chandler had done. When he finished he slid to the side and lay with his left arm extended across Chandler's back and his left leg in the space between Chandler's legs, with the left side of his body slightly on top of Chandler. He scooted in and kissed Chandler.

"That felt really good. We can keep practicing on each other and figure out what each of us really likes."

Kurt blushed, but boldly leaned forward and kissed Chandler again. "I'd like that."

"When I hurt my shoulder a couple of years ago, the physical therapist used some kind of cream and massaged it in. We can try that sometime – some kind of lotion or massage oil."

"I used lotion when my calf muscles got stiff from stuff I was doing when I was a Cheerio." He turned his head and stretched out his right arm and turned the light off. He turned back and faced Chandler and kissed him. "Let's get comfortable and kiss until we fall asleep."

"You have really good ideas." Chandler adjusted his position a little and pressed his lips to Kurt's. "Such good ideas."

* * *

The next morning when Chandler was in the bathroom getting ready, Kurt took the shirt he had brought to wear and put it on. He choose a pair of pants that looked good with it and he chose one of his own shirts that went with the pants Chandler had brought with him.

"You're wearing my shirt."

"I am, but I've put one of mine out for you in its place." Kurt kissed him on his way to the bathroom. When he came out, Chandler had put the shirt on. "It looks good on you." Kurt winked at him.

"I like wearing your shirts. Every time I look down during the day, I smile when I see what I'm wearing."

"Me too."

"Janine teases me, but good naturedly."

Kurt wrapped his arms around Chandler, holding him close and hugging him. "Ready to go? We need to get downstairs or we're going to run out of time to eat. I can't be late to school."

Chandler pecked him on the lips and grabbed his stuff. He followed Kurt down the stairs. "You're sure you want to go camping this weekend."

"Of course. Are you having second thoughts about me going?"

"Not at all. I just wanted to make sure that you actually wanted to go. I know it got planned at the last minute. I didn't want you to feel like you had to go."

Kurt stopped at the bottom and waited for Chandler. "Dad and I used to go camping quite a bit. I'm not a delicate princess that's afraid to be away from the 21st century comforts for a few days."

"I never thought you were a princess." He wiggled his eyebrows and looked him up and down. "Far too sexy to be a princess." He kissed him breathless. When he stepped back he teased him when he didn't follow right away. "The eating?"

"Right, right."

They made themselves cold cut sandwiches and ate them while listening to music on their way to Chandler's.

* * *

The last three days of school seemed to drag on, but when the final bell rang Wednesday afternoon, it seemed like it had passed by in a flash. Kurt had cleaned his locker out at lunch, so he went directly to the choir room for their last meeting of the year.

Mr. Schue had photos of them from Nationals on the piano. Everyone took on as they walked past. They sat around and traded yearbooks, signing each other's for a few minutes. Eventually, Mr. Schue had the underclassmen get up and face the seniors and sing to them. They switched places and the seniors sang to the underclassmen.

After that he gave the seniors a chance to sing their solos. Kurt sang "I'll Remember". Sam smiled at him through the whole song.

Once everyone who wanted to had sung, Mr. Schue had the seniors stand in a line and tell everyone their plans. He asked everyone to hold the applause to the end.

Rachel was first in line. "I'm going to NYADA." She could barely contain her excitement.

Mercedes explained how she had gotten noticed on YouTube and that she was pursuing that opportunity to be a back-up singer on an indie label in LA.

Finn said, "I'm going to OSU Lima."

Quinn was next. "I think everyone already knows. I'm going to Yale to study Psychology and Drama."

Puck surprised everyone, except Kurt, when he told them that he was studying HVAC in Lima.

"Britt and I got cheer scholarships to Ball State University. She's going to study math of some sort and I'm going to major in marketing."

Mike told them about getting into Alvin Ailey in New York.

Sam said, "I'm going back to Tennessee with my family and take a gap year so I can get in-state tuition in Tennessee next fall."

Kurt was last. "I'm going to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Calvin Klein and Michael Kors, among other famous designers, attended FIT."

Rachel stepped out of line and looked down at Kurt. "You're not going to NYADA? How did I not know this?"

Kurt had anticipated her shock. "I love fashion. I always have. And I do want to perform, but I've chosen FIT for the fall."

Miss Pillsbury came in and broke the tension. She had a cake that said "Congratulations Class of 2012". She sat it on the table near Mr. Schue's office. "Would one of you come help with the drinks?"

"Yeah, Miss P," Finn said. He followed her out and came back in a few minutes later with a cooler with ice and cans of soda. He opened it and got in line.

Everyone sat around and ate cake and talked for a while.

Joe stood up. "I just wanted to thank all of you for being so kind and giving me a place to feel like I belonged this year. I spent a lot of time thinking about it, and I've decided to come back next year."

Sugar clapped excitedly. "Sweet!"

He smiled at her and sat back down.

Rory said, "I'm staying with Brittany until the end of June, and then I'll be going back to Ireland. I've had a lot of fun. I'm glad I got to be a part of this group."

Sugar could hardly contain her excitement. "And I'm going to go back with him and stay for a month and he's going to show me all around Ireland. It's going to be so much fun!"

They returned to talking amongst themselves and passing yearbooks around again for a while.

Mr. Schuester stood by the piano and got everyone's attention. "Before you all leave, I wanted to tell you how proud I am of how hard all of you have worked. I've enjoyed watching all of you bloom and improve in the time I've known you. I'll see some of you on Saturday at graduation. Others, next fall. And some this is our last time seeing each other. Since this is our first year having seniors graduate, I'm starting a Facebook page for current and former members of the group to keep in contact with each other. I'll send out a link to join the group to each of you." He sat down with his guitar and sang "Forever Young" for them.

A few people went back for more cake and continued to talk.

Rachel took her chance to move closer to Kurt when Sam got up. "I can't believe you turned down NYADA. I thought that's what you really wanted."

"I did too, for a while, but I feel like I have a better chance at succeeding in fashion right now. It's just as competitive to get into FIT with an incoming class of 20 students. Even if I don't make a big splash in the fashion world in four years, they have a placement rate of like 80% at graduation. I can change my mind if I don't like it, but I'm going to give it a shot."

She nodded and sighed. "I had hoped to get a chance to sing with you since I blew the last three years."

"One last song before we head out today then?" he offered. "'What is this feeling?'"

"Definitely. I'm Elphaba."

"Of course." He pulled up the karaoke version that he sang along with at home. He went over to the dock and plugged his phone and turned the volume up enough for them to sing along. When the music started, people stopped talking and turned to look at them.

Together: _  
There's been some confusion  
over rooming here at Shiz…_

Rachel:  
_But of course, I'll care for Nessa._

Kurt: _  
But of course, I'll rise above it…_

Together:  
_For I know that's how you'd want me to respond.  
Yes, there's been some confusion,  
For you see my roommate is…_

Kurt:

_Unusually and exceedingly peculiar and altogether quite impossible to describe._

Rachel:  
_A guy._

Several of the others laughed, realizing that Rachel had changed it from the original "blonde".

They went back and forth through the verses. Tina, Mercedes, Quinn, and Blaine joined in and sang the background parts since they all knew the musical.

Together:  
_I do admit it came on fast.  
Still I believe that it can last.  
I will be loathing,  
For forever loathing,  
Truly, deeply loathing you,_

_Loathing you,  
My whole life long_!

When they finished everyone clapped.

"That was amazing, you two," Mercedes said. "You two should have done that rather than battling it out for 'Defying Gravity' since we never even used that one. Are you ever going to tell us why you threw that, Kurt? I know you can hit the high F. We've all heard you."

"I want to hear you sing it right now," Rachel insisted.

Kurt pulled up the backing track he used at home and sang the whole song, hitting the high notes strong and clear. When he finished, he didn't move. Rachel looked stunned.

"I told you he blew the note on purpose," Mercedes said. "I didn't realize it at the time because I hadn't heard him sing that much yet, especially not by himself. But I suspected it later. When he sang for his NYADA audition, he sang even higher, so I was certain then."

Rachel still looked confused. "Why would you do that, Kurt?"

Kurt took a deep breath. He explained what had happened. "If I had known that Mr. Schue wasn't going to end up using it, I wouldn't have thrown the competition."

"I want to sing 'For Good' with you," she said. "I understand if no one wants to listen to us sing again. We can wait until after everyone else leaves."

Tina said, "We all heard about it, but none of us got to hear you. I want to hear."

"Me too," Mercedes said.

Puck said, "Just do it. Me and Finn are singing after you though, so no one run off."

Kurt found the backing track and played it. They sounded just as amazing as they had on the _Wicked_ stage the year before. When they finished, Kurt got in line and took his first piece of cake. Rachel followed him and sat down next to him. They listened to Puck and Finn sing "Glory Days".

Once they finished, everyone started to toss out their trash and gather up their stuff. Rachel started hugging people. Once she finished, she sat back down next to Kurt.

"As loathe as I am to admit it, I was wrong. You and I could have been as good together as Artie, Puck, Finn, or Blaine. I'm sorry, Kurt. I'm not going to ask you to forgive me, but if you do at some point, we will both be in the New York. Maybe we could meet up. I had hoped you'd be in the dorms with me and maybe we could get an apartment at some point."

"I've already got a roommate for this school year."

She nodded. "You have my number, if you ever want to give me a 100th second chance."

He smiled and nodded. "Let's get going before we're the only ones in the whole building."

They stepped outside the door to see Sam waiting. "I didn't want to leave you two here alone."

"Thanks," Kurt said.

They walked out to the parking lot together. Sam gave Rachel a ride home on his way to work. Kurt headed to the shop for his shift.


	15. Chapter 15

Friday evening, the Evans clan arrived. Kurt took Stevie and Stacey out to the backyard to run off some of their energy from being cooped up in the car for so long. After they brought their bags inside and left them in Finn's room, Mary, Dwight, and Sam joined them out back and sat on the deck talking.

Finn and Burt were manning the grill, while Carole put everything that she, Kurt, and Sam had prepared on the table. When the doorbell rang, Carole answered the door and let Chandler in. He followed her back to the kitchen and looked out the back to see Stevie and Stacey chasing after Kurt. He was torn between offering to help Carole and going outside.

"Go on out, honey," Carole encouraged him.

He nodded and opened the door.

Kurt looked up when he heard the door slide open. "Chandler! Come help me!"

He jogged out to where Kurt was. "Why do you need help?"

"Time out!" Kurt said, as he formed a T with his hands like a referee.

Both kids froze.

"Alright. How about we change from tag to piggyback rides?"

Stacey moved closer and pulled Kurt's arm to get him to lean down. "I don't know him," she whispered into Kurt's ear.

He stood back up. "My fault entirely. My fair princess Stacey, this is Chandler. He's my boyfriend."

"What happened to your other boyfriend?" she asked.

"We broke up."

"Why?" she asked with her natural 7-year-old curiosity. "I didn't really like him, but Sammy told me to be nice, so I did be nice."

Kurt was trying to think of something age appropriate to give in response to Stacey's question.

Stevie said, "I think you broke up with him because he was an attention hog. He never wanted to play anything we wanted to play. He always wanted to play _American Idol_ or something where he could sing and we had to watch him. He didn't want to play chase or games we made up. Did he never want to do what you wanted either? Is that why you broke up with him?"

"You are very observant, Stevie. And yes, that's part of why I broke up with him. The other main reason was that he had double-standards."

Stacey said, "I don't know what that means."

"It's when someone has rules that some people have to follow, but they don't."

"Oh, like when mommy says I have to go to bed at 8:30, but she and daddy don't have to. Or when she drinks soda and tells us that we have to have milk?"

"Like that, yes. But you and Stevie are still growing. You need more sleep than grown ups. And milk has vitamins and stuff in it to help you be strong. But yes, that is a type of double standard. We have lots of them between adults and children."

Stevie said, "I get that some rules are different for kids. Stacey and I can't drive because we can't even see over the steering wheel. But you two were the same age, so the rules should be the same."

"Yes."

The patio door opened again and Stacey looked towards the house. "I know Puck, but who are the other two people?"

Chandler looked back. "Oh, that's my mom and dad. My sister Marlene and her husband Zach will be here tomorrow. My parents are leaving early in the morning to drive to Toledo to pick them up from the airport and bring them back here."

Stacey said, "I've never flown in an airplane."

"Me either," Stevie said. "Kurt did last year and Sammy too. They went to New York City."

Chandler said, "I've never flown in an airplane either, but I'm going to on Sunday. Kurt and I are going back to Washington, DC with Marlene and Zach to spend a week there. She got a job there right before school started and I haven't been there yet."

"That sounds fun," Stacey said.

"I think so too."

"Will you give us piggy back rides like Kurt said?"

"Sure." He knelt down and let Stacey climb on.

Kurt picked Stevie up.

They made it around the backyard three times before Carole called them all inside the house to eat.

Dwight and Mary introduced themselves to Sharon and James. Everyone got along well and enjoyed their meal together. Kurt noticed the Southwest Casserole with a couple of other dishes he recognized from eating at Chandler's.

Once they finished eating, Sharon and James went home.

Finn and Puck set the air mattress up in the family room and spent the rest of the evening playing video games.

Kurt, Chandler, and Sam took the kids upstairs and played Chutes and Ladders with them, and then had them get ready for bed. Sam got them to shower quickly.

Kurt and Chandler went to Kurt's room. Kurt arranged the room while Chandler got everything he needed set up in Kurt's bathroom. He set up the three chairs from the upstairs bedrooms and his vanity bench in two rows, alongside his bed, facing the alcove outside his bathroom.

Once Stevie and Stacey were ready for bed, they came in and sat in the front row of the audience with Sam and Kurt taking the two seat behind them. Chandler came out of the bathroom in his magician's outfit – black slacks, a black button-up long-sleeved shirt, a silver and black vest, an ornate red tux coat with tails and burnished silver epaulettes and buttons, and a top hat with a red band that matched his tux coat.

He wowed his audience with sleight-of-hand tricks, card tricks, and mind-reading tricks. He did the shredded newspaper returned to original condition trick and one disappearing scarf trick as well. His 20-minute performance kept everyone entertained and paying close attention. They were all super impressed and gave him a rousing round of applause when he finished.

"Dude, you have to do that again tomorrow at our graduation party. That was so cool," Sam said.

"I want to see all of the tricks again tomorrow too," Stacey said. "Please?"

Chandler couldn't resist her adorable smile. "Sure. I'll do it. We'll have to figure out where though because I need a place to keep my stuff and there's not enough room in here for very many people."

"The family room," Kurt said. "That room we never go in is a storage room. You can keep your stuff and you can stand in that part of the room. We can turn the sofa. We'll bring chairs down and some people can stand behind the sofa and sit on the floor if need be."

"Alright."

Stevie and Stacey started to clap and cheer.

"Alright, you two. It's time for bed."

They got up and followed Sam to his room.

Kurt asked Chandler, "Can you change back quickly? I'd like to go out back and watch the sunset."

* * *

They went out back and sat in the swing near the back of the yard. Since it was only a few weeks until the summer solstice, the last of the sunset could still be seen.

Kurt scooted closer to Chandler and pulled their intertwined hands up and over Chandler's head like he had done outside the aquarium. Chandler turned and smiled at him. Kurt leaned in and kissed him.

Kurt said, "Tomorrow's going to be crazy busy."

"I know, but I'm looking forward to it. Once we get through the ceremonies, we'll officially have graduated." Chandler leaned into Kurt and relaxed. "The sunset is really pretty tonight."

"It is."

They sat in the stillness of the evening, listening to the cicadas and watching the end of the sunset together in silence. Kurt closed his eyes as the sunlight completely faded. He pushed the swing a little to make it move again. When it stopped again, he didn't push again.

"Will you dance with me?" Kurt asked.

"Sure." He let go of Kurt's hand and stood up.

Kurt reached over to the edge of the swing and pressed the button to light up the set of blue twinkle lights he had put along the top of it that morning.

Chandler looked up and smiled. He reached for Kurt and pulled him closer. Kurt pressed the playlist on his phone and put it in his shirt pocket. When then music started, Kurt began to sing along.

…

_Kiss me, beneath the milky twilight.  
Lead me out onto the moonlit floor.  
Lift your open hand.  
Strike up the band, and make fireflies dance.  
Silvermoon's sparkling.  
So, kiss me._

_So, kiss me._

"Gladly," Chandler said, as he kissed along Kurt's neck and up towards his ear.

The song changed to an instrumental version of "Truly Madly Deeply" while they continued to sway and kiss. Before the song came to an end, Kurt pulled back from the kissing and pressed his forehead to Chandler's. When the song ended, he took a half-step back so that he could look Chandler in the eyes.

He moved his hands up to Chandler's face and ran his thumbs across his cheeks. He leaned in and kissed him gently. "I love you, Chandler."

Chandler pulled Kurt as close as he could and hugged him fiercely, melting into the embrace.

Kurt sang bits and pieces of the song as he kissed along Chandler's neck and jaw line.

_I love you more with every breath,  
Truly madly deeply do.  
I will be strong. I will be faithful.  
I'm counting on a new beginning.  
Mmm… A deeper meaning._

_I want to stand with you on a mountain.  
I want to bathe with you in the sea.  
I want to stay like this forever.  
Until the sky falls down on me._

Chandler loosened his hold on Kurt. He reached up and tipped Kurt's chin up just enough that they were looking eye-to-eye again. "I love you too, Kurt. You're as amazing as you are gorgeous." He kissed him again. "I recognized the song, but couldn't bring the words to mind until you started to sing." He kissed Kurt. "This is all very sweet and romantic. It's beautiful. There are so many little things you do that show much how much you care. You've made me the happiest guy. I have the most amazing, sweet, kind, gorgeous boyfriend who _loves_ me."

"I do. I love my awesome, energetic, handsome, boyfriend who is full of joy and so much fun to be with. And even on days when neither of us are any of those things, I will still love you."

Chandler kissed him again, "Me too."

* * *

After dancing to another song in the glow of the lights, Kurt kissed Chandler again. "Let's grab the lights and take them up to my room."

Chandler helped him get them down. When they got upstairs, they taped them along the edge of the top shelf. They carefully placed solar panel along the edge of the window, taping it in place, so the lights could be used whenever they wanted to turn them on. Kurt turned them back on, and then turned the lights in the room off.

"We can take them with us and put them along the top of the windows in the living room and we can dance whenever we want."

Chandler stepped closer and wrapped his arms around Kurt. "You come up with little romantic and sweet things all the time. Every single heart and smiley face and cat you drew in my notebooks when I was in the shower that night we filled in our review sheets made me smile when I studied for finals. I love the idea of putting these up in our new place." He slipped his hand up to the back of Kurt's neck and ran his fingers through the back of his hair. "Are you ready to take showers and go to sleep?"

"Yes and no. Yes, to the showers. No, to going to sleep. I want to kiss and snuggle more."

Chandler smiled. "Sounds perfect."

About 20 minutes later, they were curled up in bed together with Kurt as the big spoon. He kissed the back of Chandler's neck. "I love you."

"I love you." He snuggled back into Kurt's arms and fell asleep quickly.

* * *

Saturday morning was a bit of a madhouse with six extra people and everyone waking up early to get ready for the day. Mary and Carole made a breakfast buffet out of breakfast foods, sandwich items, and the leftovers from dinner the night before.

Kurt, Sam, Puck, and Finn had to be at the school at 10:00, so everyone sat down to eat together at 9:00. Carole got photos of the four of them separately and in several combinations before they left for the school.

Chandler rode with Burt and Carole to the ceremony. Once it was finished and innumerable photos had been taken, they all headed back to the house for lunch together.

Chandler had brought his cap and gown with him the day before. Carole took photos of them together while everyone else had gone to change. Kurt took his cap and gown up to his room and Chandler put his back in the coat closet before they joined everyone in the dining room to eat the pizzas that Dwight and Mary had stopped and picked up on the way home.

Once everyone had finished eating, Chandler left to get to North Lima on time for his own ceremony. Kurt and Sam took everything they needed out to the back yard and assembled the photo booth backdrop the three of them had made on Thursday. Kurt and Sam took the folding table out next and put the different dress up items on it that Kurt and Chandler had gotten. There were things like Harry Potter glasses, various crazy hats, feather boas, and some other costume pieces.

Inside, Carole and Mary packed up the leftover pizza and began to decorate for the party. Kurt left to go to Chandler's ceremony, leaving Sam, Finn, and Puck to set up all of the lawn games.

Kurt and Chandler got back a little before 2:00. They had only been back a few minutes when the doorbell rang. Kurt opened the door to find Mercedes standing on the porch. Other people started to arrive after that. Finn, Kurt, and Sam had been allowed to invite whomever they wanted to and a large group of jocks were amongst the first to arrive. Kurt and Chandler went upstairs to change into more casual clothes. Kurt looked out his window to see that the badminton, horseshoes, and several other yard games were all set up. By the time they finished changing, several of the members of the New Directions had arrived and Kurt felt more like going back downstairs.

* * *

When Kurt saw Blaine come in with Tina and Mike, he looked around the room to find Chandler, but didn't see him anywhere. He went into the kitchen and looked into the dining room, but still didn't find him. He looked out back and found him with Brittany playing ring toss. He looked around for Santana quickly, grabbed her hand, and took her out back with him.

"Why are you bringing me out here?"

"I need you to take Chandler's place and play with Brittany or convince her to do something else. I need to take Chandler upstairs. Blaine just showed up."

"Got it."

She made her way out into the yard and hip-checked Chandler. "It's my turn to play with Britt." As she turned, she lowered her voice. "Kurt needs to talk to you."

Chandler looked back towards the house and smiled. He handed the rings he was holding to Santana. When he got close enough, he said, "What's up? Santana said you needed to talk to me."

"I do. Let's go up to my room." Kurt led him through the gate and back in through the side door of the garage so they could get upstairs without being seen. He closed his door once they were inside.

"Well, that was very Bond of you," Chandler teased. "Why are we sneaking around?"

"Somehow my ex thought he was invited and he showed up a few minutes ago." Kurt shook his head and rolled his eyes. "I have no idea why he showed up. He's not really friends with Finn or Sam, but since the rest of the New Directions are here, he must have heard people talking and assumed that he was invited too. I just wanted to get the two of us where we could talk before he corners me. I want you to stay up here until I come back, okay?"

"You're kind of scaring me about him."

"He didn't take the breakup well. He says that he and I are soulmates. I don't believe in soulmates anymore than I believe in fairies. I think there are people who are extremely compatible and others who wouldn't last one day together. But to believe that there is only one person in the whole world that's meant to be my mate makes no sense. There are literally billions of people. I much prefer getting to chose my mate myself rather than leaving that up to something like 'fate' or some divine entity that I don't believe in." Kurt took a deep breath and stepped closer to Chandler. He reached up and caressed the side of Chandler's face with his thumb. "I love you." Kurt kissed him gently.

Chandler wrapped his arms around Kurt and held him close. "I love you too."

"I'm going to get my dad and put a stop to this." Kurt pressed in and kissed him again. "Give me five minutes to get my dad and then you can go back downstairs if you want. Sebastian and Adrien should be here any time now."

"Okay. One more kiss."

Just as the kiss began to heat up, Kurt's door swung open, "Kurt?" Blaine called out, as he stepped into the room. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Kurt kissing Chandler.

Kurt broke the kiss and turned. "Were you raised in a barn? Closed doors mean knock first," Kurt said, his voice dripping with irritation.

"Who are you?" Blaine asked.

"I'll be back." Kurt squeezed Chandler's hand and stepped towards Blaine. "Let's go somewhere else and talk."

"That's Chandler isn't it? You _lied_ to me. You _were_ cheating on me."

"I did not cheat on you. Let's go." He ushered Blaine towards the door.

Blaine turned back. "He's my soulmate. Not yours."

Kurt tried to guide him towards the door, but Blaine pushed him away, causing him to stumble, but he caught himself and steadied himself. He withstood the second shove without losing his ground.

"Let's go!" Kurt nearly growled. This time he reached for Blaine's wrist to pull him towards the door.

Blaine dodged and lunged towards Chandler, who had no way to move back since he was already against the bed. Kurt stepped in between them.

"Turn around and walk out of this room, or I will help you out. I may be non-violent, but I will not let you threaten him. Let's go!"

Blaine jerked away and stepped towards the door. He turned back and looked as angry as he had the day in the choir room. "He's _mine_. We _will_ be together."

What Kurt didn't see was that as soon as their backs were turned, Chandler texted Sam and Sebastian. They nearly crashed into each other as they arrived at the bottom of the stairs. They made it to the top just as Kurt had gotten Blaine about halfway down the hallway.

"Sebastian?" Blaine was dumbfounded. "What are you doing here?"

"Unlike you, I was invited. Let's go."

Adrien had followed Sebastian when he took off. He was on the landing halfway up the stairs. "Is everything okay, Sebastian?"

"Yeah. We're fine. Sam and I are going to help Kurt escort Blaine out since he caused Chandler to text me – and Sam."

Kurt said, "Adrien, can you find my dad and have him meet us outside the garage door?"

"Sure, Kurt." Adrien took off looking for Burt.

"Who is Adrien?" Blaine asked.

"My boyfriend," Sebastian answered.

Blaine scoffed, "Boyfriend. Yeah, right." As they walked down the stairs, his original anger was overtaken by the confusion. "You don't do boyfriends. I still don't get why you're here."

Sam opened the garage door and waited for the other three to walk through before he closed it. He and Sebastian walked through the garage and waited with Kurt and Blaine outside the exterior door until Burt arrived.

Sebastian responded, "I lied. Look, I apologized for doing stupid things, but I didn't go into details that day in the Lima Bean. You clearly weren't interested in hearing my apology, so I just dropped it at that point and stayed out of your lives completely. Kurt and I ran into each other by sheer happenstance a couple of weeks later – at the beginning of April. We talked. I apologized again. We moved on and became friends."

Blaine said, "None of this makes any sense."

"Blaine," Burt called out from the driveway. "Let's go for a walk."

Sam and Sebastian went back inside.

Kurt broke the silence once they were down a couple of houses. "We are not soulmates. We are not getting back together. What you just did upstairs is undoubtedly what I would have eventually faced. You shoved me."

"You were kissing him. I lost my temper. I'm sorry."

"Too little, too late," Kurt said. "And for your information, I did not start dating him until after you and I had broken up."

Burt said, "That's true. Kurt called me in DC and told me about him. I met him about a week after the two of you broke up."

The next block down, Kurt sat down on a retaining wall along the front of someone's yard. The other two sat down as well.

Burt said, "I know you're upset about losing Kurt, but you need to get it into your head that throwing a tantrum or whatever went on upstairs is not the way to solve problems. It quit being a way to solve problems when you were about three."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Kurt and I are meant to be together."

Burt responded, "Obviously not. You're _not_ together. You haven't been for over two months. You can't just unilaterally decide that something is going to be a certain way when someone else is involved. If one person says it's over, then it's over. No matter how much the other person doesn't want it to be. I know what went on at Scandals. And I know that you don't take 'no' for an answer easily. What you did that night was wrong. And don't bother saying that you were drunk. Being drunk doesn't relieve you of facing the consequences. If you had gotten into your car and driven that night and hit someone, you would have been tried as an adult. If I had known what had gone on at the time, I would have gotten Kurt some counseling and helped him see that you weren't a suitable choice for a partner."

Kurt spoke up. "I'm missing the only high school graduation party I'm ever going to have. I'm going back. You can decide what you want to do, but your options do _not_ include harassing me or Chandler. I'll add Sebastian and Adrien to the list as well. They're the only two people at the party besides Chandler that I invited. Everyone else is there because either Finn or Sam invited them. I intend to go back and enjoy my party. It seems like you could use an adult to talk to. Why don't you ask Rachel to give you her new therapist's name?" He stood up.

"I'm leaving for Six Flags tomorrow. I won't be around to see Rachel's therapist. I was going to stay in town this summer, but after… Anyway, I had hoped you'd change your mind. I came to give it one last shot. I was going to call and quit if you'd agree to get back together."

"That's not going to happen. I'm not breaking up with Chandler. He's kind and sweet. He likes me for me, not for how I can build him up. He likes who I am. He isn't embarrassed by me. He actually laughs at my jokes instead of rolling his eyes. He actually likes it that I have Sam. We all hang out together and it's fun. I did everything in my power to make our relationship work, Blaine. What did you do? You ignored me for months. Once we were together, you barely kept in contact with me while you were working at Six Flags. At McKinley, you hung out with the guys without me. You _took_ Tony. You tried to _take_ something else to be a better Tony. You took credit for the gifts at Valentine's. _None_ of that was you doing everything in your power to make our relationship work. I'm over the one-sidedness of the effort. I've read a few books, a lot of articles, and spent a good amount of time talking to Carole since we broke up. I've learned a lot. My self-respect isn't in a crumpled heap in a dumpster anymore. Even after what you did, I have tried to keep you from getting hurt in all of this. I kept my relationship with Chandler from most everyone in Glee Club and I never defended myself other than saying that I didn't cheat on you twice in class that day. I didn't go around telling people about the things that happened between us. I didn't retaliate. But like I said, this is my only high school graduation party. I'm going to go back to have fun. And if anyone asks why you left, I'll tell them that you had only stopped by for a few minutes and couldn't stay."

He stood up and faced Blaine. He spoke slightly slower than normal, but otherwise managed to maintain an air of calmness to his voice

"This is the last of my goodwill. You are no longer a part of my life and if you continue to try to insert yourself back into my life, I will look into what I can do about legally keeping you away from me – a restraining order perhaps. I have a witness that you got physical with me. And there are two other people who saw me trying to get you down the hall without actually grabbing you and forcing you. Please just leave me alone." He started walking towards the house.

Burt and Blaine got up and followed along behind him.

Kurt slowed up and let them catch up. "Just for the record, Sebastian and Adrien have been together for five years."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"It does when you move what happened last fall from the category of 'Sebastian wanted you and was trying to get with you.' to 'Sebastian was playing you and trying to get information out of you by flirting with you.' You remember what I told you about Jesse St. James?"

"Yeah."

"Like that, but much more gay. Instead of eggs, you got the slushie version, but that was because you dove in front of me, which worked wonderfully to overwrite everyone's opinion about you from Traitor Blaine to Martyr Blaine." Kurt rolled his eyes. "Anyway, we were both his targets in different ways. He flirted with you to get information out of you that could help the Warblers beat us. And he annoyed the crap out of me to try to keep me from focusing on Sectionals and to cause strife between us, hoping that it would bleed over into the group as a whole. When we still won, he backed off antagonizing me, but he continued to flirt with you through texts and phone calls and you kept it to yourself. Adrien actually helped with the texting when Sebastian was busy. You enjoyed the attention. I understand that you're lonely, but that doesn't change anything I've already said to you. No means no. And I won't put up with being pushed around anymore." He picked up the pace and went up the walkway and into the house and straight up to his room to see if Chandler was waiting for him.

Burt escorted Blaine past the house down to his car. "Get some help, Blaine. Don't bother Kurt or Chandler. I may never have met your parents, but it can't be that hard to find them. Kurt and Chandler are off limits. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, sir."

Burt stood in the driveway until Blaine had driven off.

* * *

Kurt knocked gently and tried to turn the doorknob only to find it locked. "Chandler, it's me." He heard the doorknob lock turn. He reached for the doorknob when the door didn't open. He opened the door slowly and stepped inside. He closed and locked the door this time. He took the few steps he needed to reach Chandler and wrapped his arms around him. "I'm so sorry."

"You didn't do anything. Well, that's not true. You stepped between us in a move to defend me from him. That was very gallant, although unnecessary, but I appreciate the thought. I'm pretty sure I could have taken him."

"Possibly in a fair fight, but he's a boxer. He wouldn't have fought fair. And I couldn't let him hurt you, even though I know you are plenty strong enough to defend yourself. I didn't do it because you needed me to defend you. I did it because his problem is with me, not you. This is the fourth time, the second with a parental age adult present, that I have told him in no uncertain terms that we are over. I told him that if he bothered me again that I would seek to get a restraining order. He's 18 now, so I can potentially get one."

"Did he hurt you before? Is he still here?"

"He's gone. My dad asked him to leave and I'm sure that he stayed outside long enough to make sure that he actually drove off. As for your other question, can we talk about that later? I'm only ever having one high school graduation party. I want to go back downstairs with my handsome boyfriend and eat some of the cheesecake we made and enjoy the party." Kurt kissed up the side of his neck, along his jaw line to his lips. After a few kisses, he asked, "Ready?"

Chandler opened his eyes. "Yeah. You're right." He kissed Kurt once more and loosened his hold on him. "Let's go eat cheesecake and take silly pictures and play games. I was having fun with Brittany before he showed up."

Kurt let go of him completely and offered his hand. "Don't forget the magic show you promised a certain blonde 7-year-old last night."

"I haven't forgotten. I'm nervous though. I usually perform for kids at the bookstore, not people my own age."

Kurt squeezed his hand. "Well, I thought you were fantastic, so try to relax."

* * *

Finn caught sight of them coming down the stairs. "Finally, dude. Mom wouldn't let me get into any of the desserts until you came downstairs."

Kurt stopped on the last step and motioned for Finn to step closer. His spoke quietly where only Finn could hear. "We had to get deal with Blaine getting bent out of shape after he barreled into my room without knocking and saw me kissing Chandler."

"He's here?"

"Was here."

"Oh, good. We can eat the desserts now. Come on."

Kurt pushed him forward. "Go on, then. We're right behind you."

Once Carole caught sight of Kurt, she smiled and waved for them to come stand with her. Burt had already made it into the dining room. The two of them stood to one side and Mary and Dwight stood on the other. The four graduates stood in the center.

Brittany had her camera and took a few pictures of the eight of them together and some of just the four of them. She had each one stand under the congratulations banner separately. "I'll do everyone else after we eat."

Finn grabbed for a plate as soon as he saw her let the camera hang loose around her neck.

Not everyone stayed the whole two hours. Most of the jocks left early to stop by other people's parties or go home to their own. Some people sat around upstairs talking. Others played games downstairs and outside, sang out on the back deck with the karaoke system that Rachel had brought with her, took photos with the props, and horsed around.

Once it was just New Directions members left, Kurt rounded everyone up and they went down to the family room. Finn and Puck turned the couch. Chandler came out and did the same routine that he had done the night before. Much to his surprise, everyone was really impressed. They all clapped when he finished.

Chandler bowed. He took his stuff into the storage room, packed it up, and changed back.

"Sammy, can we have another cookie?" Stevie asked.

"Go ask Mom. I'm not sure how many you've already had."

He and Stacey took off running upstairs.

While Chandler was changing, Puck said, "That was way less lame than I had expected. He's actually really good at it."

"I think your new boyfriend is an awesomely good magician," Brittany said.

Santana said, "I was impressed too."

Mercedes said, "Boyfriend? How did I miss this? I thought he was like your cousin or something since he was here."

Kurt spoke up. "You all know that Blaine and I broke up. I moved on. I just didn't feel the need to listen to any of you tell me why I should go back to Blaine. I know he was still continuing to talk about us getting back together, but that is not going to happen. Anyway, if any of you feel the need to be unsupportive, you can keep it to yourselves."

Finn spoke up on his behalf. "Look, Chandler and his parents even came to Nationals to watch Kurt. His cousin too. They all went to the aquarium with me, Puck, Sam, Kurt, Burt, and Mom."

Brittany said, "Me and Santana met him there. He likes Lord Tubbington. He's cool. He showed me pictures of his cat Queenie. She's really beautiful."

"So, Puck, Sam, Finn, Brittany, and Santana knew?" Mercedes asked.

"Puck's known for quite a while. He saw us at Wendy's one day back a while ago. Sam and Finn live here, so yeah, they knew. Look, I know that some of you are friends with Blaine and I just didn't want the drama. I wanted us to have the best chance at winning Nationals, and everyone picking sides would not have helped that."

Mercedes finally relented. "Yeah, I can see that. I remember last year with that _Rumours_ album week. People got crazy fast when they thought you, Sam, and Quinn were having a ménage a trois. Me specifically. I still feel bad about that. We're definitely not the most level-headed group of people."

Chandler opened the door and came out. Kurt got up and went to stand next to him.

Brittany got up and hugged him. Santana followed her.

"You're as fabulous as Kurt." She kissed him on the cheek.

Santana said, "That really was pretty impressive, especially the ripping the newspaper up trick."

"Thanks."

Kurt wanted to talk to Chandler for a while before they needed to leave to go to his house for his and Janine's graduation party, so Kurt hugged the girls goodbye. He and Chandler grabbed Chandler's stuff, put it in the back seat of the Navigator, and went up to Kurt's room.


	16. Chapter 16

Kurt sat down on his bed, took his shoes off, and leaned back against the headboard, stretching his legs out. "We made it." He patted the spot next to him.

Chandler took his shoes off too and sat next to him. "We did. We're high school graduates. I think it will sink in more when we get to New York."

Kurt reached out for Chandler's hand and interlaced their fingers. "I just want to answer your questions and get those taken care of before we go to your party. Nothing has changed between us, at least I hope not. I'm 99% certain he won't bother either one of us again after realizing that my dad knows everything."

"That's good."

"He's a junior, so he will still be in high school next year. He won't be in New York."

"Even better."

"I know you asked me if he had ever hurt me before. Was there anything else you wanted to know?"

"I have one other question, but you can answer the first question."

"Today was the first time that he got physical like that."

"'Like that'... that leaves me to wonder if there's some _other_ way that he got physical with you, but I don't want to push you to tell me things that you're not ready to talk about."

"It's not that I've never talked what happened. I have. My dad and Carole know. I just didn't want our relationship to be marred with things from the past. There was more emotional hurt than physical. I really was over him when I asked you to be my boyfriend. They only relevance he had was what I learned from choosing the wrong person. I learned a lot about myself, not all of it good. I guess part of it is pride. I wanted to keep the idiotic things I did to myself. There's a part of me that felt like if you knew what I did that you might decide to find someone more mature. You had the right outlook on waiting to find someone to date until I came along and asked you out. It's a little selfish too because I didn't and don't want to lose you. What I feel with you is so different and so amazing. I should have never dated him. I was in a really bad place emotionally and I made bad choices."

Chandler scooted closer to Kurt so that their shoulders were touching. "Take a deep breath. Tell me what you want me to know now. I understand that it's an emotional story, but it will make a lot more sense if you start at the beginning."

Kurt started with revisiting the issue of Burt's stay in the hospital, the girls versus guys competition, being sent off to spy on the Warblers, meeting Blaine, and Dave's uptake in bullying.

"I remember you telling me about all of that, except obviously not the part about your ex. I can see how you would be very vulnerable and prone to turning to anyone willing to show you any kindness."

Kurt nodded. "A lot of things happened between the point when I mistook his kindness for romantic interest and when I realized that I had imagined the interest." He told him about the coffee dates, singing flirty duets, watching movies, and ended with the GAP attack.

"He what?"

"Yep, I came home instead of staying to practice. I was shocked at the song choice and ended up standing on the sidelines not really participating." Kurt told him about how he had declared his interest to have it turned down. He followed that with what had happened at Rachel's party and afterwards.

"Oh, wow. That's messed up."

"It was."

"I can see where some of your issues with Rachel come from."

"That and other things." He went on. "Two weeks later, just when I was about 95% over him, he kissed me out of the blue while I was decorating a casket for my canary that had died. He wanted us to boyfriends. That was right before Regionals – early-March last year. At that very moment, I should have said no, but I didn't. I wanted what everyone else had. And in the end, I guess I got that – a messed up high school relationship that wouldn't last. Anyway, after Regionals we had spring break. I transferred back to McKinley at midterm."

"You didn't really answer about the bodily harm issue, but I'll ask you my other question. He yelled that you had been cheating on him with me. How did he know who I was and why would he say that you were cheating with me?"

"Let me go back a bit. I told you what happened at Valentine's Day."

"Dave and the Secret Admirer gifts. You turned him down gently. You were seen together. He was outed."

"The part I didn't mention was that I was still with my ex then. That's why I turned him down, along with the other issues. But it was harder to do than I would have thought. His gifts were so thoughtful and sweet. I wasn't used to that. It did tug at my heartstrings, but it also cut me deep because the whole time I was getting the cards and gifts, I thought they were from my ex. In the end, he didn't do anything."

"Okay."

"Back to your question. The Monday we met at the music store, I was still with him. That Wednesday, he saw your texts to me. He accused me of cheating on him, which I wasn't. He had texted back and forth with Sebastian for over three months, and when I found out about it, he told me that they were just friends – and that texting wasn't cheating. But suddenly when I had someone that could possibly turn into a friend, texting with you for two days was me cheating. Things hadn't been good for a long time, but I didn't know what to do."

"You skipped from last March to this February. I'm a little lost."

"You're right. I'll go back. We short-distanced dated for the second half of the semester. He worked at Six Flags all summer, so it went to long-distance dating. When he came back, I teased him and said that he should enroll at McKinley. I had no idea whatsoever that he would do it. Why would he do that? He showed up the next week at McKinley. I told him not to do it for me. He told me that he couldn't stand to be apart from the person he loved. It still made no sense. He had been apart from me all summer while he was at Six Flags. Why would he leave Dalton to attend McKinley? I never got any other answer, but after he came to McKinley, my friends became his friends. Things went downhill quickly within a few weeks of school starting." Kurt told him about _West Side Story_ and what happened at Scandals.

"Oh, God, Kurt."

Chandler climbed onto Kurt's lap and straddled his legs. He pulled Kurt into his arms and wrapped them around him. Kurt let himself be held. Chandler reached up and stroked the base of Kurt's hair and down his neck. He held Kurt until he relaxed.

"Once he came to McKinley, everyone I had ever been even sort of friends with fell under his spell too. He was accepted at McKinley in a way that I had only dreamed to be. All of those terrible things I told you that had happened to me – none of them happened to him, which I am grateful for. I didn't wish him any ill will. I was glad to see the school becoming less homophobic and hateful. No one called him names in the locker room. No one bullied him at all. He was this Disney prince to all of the girls who had been my friends. Sebastian said that he and Adrien called Blaine 'Gaston' from the first time Sebastian met him."

Chandler laughed. He loosened his hold on Kurt and slid back a bit. He got Kurt to scoot forwards too. They rearranged and sat chest-to-chest with their legs wrapped around each other.

"Unfortunately, at first I was like those girls in the tavern – singing his praises and extolling his virtues. I kept everything negative to myself. I'm a private person, but the lack of complaints on my part contributed to his 'perfect boyfriend' image. Word spread around that Dave had been outed at school and about his attempt, but no one pieced together that it was Dave who had been sending the gifts. I stayed silent about what had led to me seeing Dave at Breadstix. I didn't want to make things worse."

"I can understand that. If everyone had known he had been sending you gifts, it wouldn't have surprised me if they started harassing you again and blaming you for 'turning' him from the stupid things you said you've heard from the jocks before."

Kurt nodded and sighed. "Anyway, after that, he just got more and more distant. I didn't break up with him. By then I had shifted my focus back to getting out of Lima. That upset him. Just like when you were talking about why you chose not to start dating when you were younger, only as lame as it sounds, I didn't know that he was a year behind me in school until he transferred to McKinley. He and I had classes together at Dalton. We were close in age. He turned 18 this spring. It just never came up. He was fine with the idea of going to school in New York. But this spring, he became passive/aggressive about it. Anyway, the worst thing wasn't what happened in the Scandals parking lot."

"What?" Chandler asked alarmed.

"Not like that. I mean emotionally. When Rachel and I had to wait in the hallway until Madame Tibideaux had left after our auditions, she was being meddlesome and accidentally brought up something that I had no knowledge of. I had chalked up what happened in the parking lot as an alcohol-infused horny teenage guy issue."

"He was still responsible for his actions."

"I know. My dad reminded him of that this afternoon too. Anyway, she told me that Artie told them that they weren't doing a good enough job portraying a young couple discovering love for the first time. And his advice, as the student director, was for them to love their virginities in order to do a better job."

"Oh, my God. No way."

"Unfortunately, yes. So, that whole thing in the back of his car was so that he could play Tony better. I was nothing but a means to an end at that point."

Chandler was shocked, but didn't waiver in his support for Kurt. He resumed running his fingers through the base of Kurt's hair and just held him. When Kurt pulled back to talked more, Chandler let his hand slip to Kurt's shoulder.

"I'm 100% certain now that he never loved me. He loved that I loved him and was always there to support him. His 180 about me took place right after I had smarted off about the Warblers being all about him and no one else getting the chance to shine. He felt me pulling away and he reeled me back in by offering me what I had wanted when we first met. The books I started reading this spring and the talks with Carole have made a huge difference – a huge difference. I've regained a sense of self-worth that I had lost so long ago that I honestly couldn't remember when I last had any."

"I'm glad."

"The next morning after he saw the texts from you, he irately sang 'It's Not Right, but It's Okay' to me in Glee Club before school and dedicated it to everyone who had ever been cheated on. I left school before first period. I talked to Carole. I made up my mind to accept his song as a publicly declared breakup. I met with him and solidified the breakup. He was upset and said he didn't want to break up. I held my ground. You know the rest."

"So, it had only been two days when you asked me to go bowling?"

"Thursday morning to Friday evening."

"I see."

Chandler didn't let go of him like Kurt was afraid he would. Kurt pulled himself together and ran his hand up and down Chandler's back.

"When I stood up for myself and held my ground and didn't accept his 'I was angry' excuse, I felt different. When I spent time with you that weekend, I began to remember why I like myself. I never meant to rush into dating you. I thought it would take several weeks to get to know you well enough to know if we could even be friends, but you were so amazing. We drove to Chicago and we talked about so many things and I just really liked you. I like everything about you."

"You haven't seen everything," he teased.

"Yet," Kurt teased back. "Not for lack of interest." He ran his hands down Chandler's arms to his elbows and slipped his hands up under his short sleeves to caress his upper arms. He leaned forward and closed the few inches between their lips and kissed Chandler. "I don't want what happened to be what we remember from today. I'm not going to let him take steal anymore of my joy, but I want to leave him in the past. Can we do that?"

Chandler nodded.

"I had lost myself, but my re-found self-respect and self-worth are intact again. I don't need everyone else's approval. I'm content on my own. I'm not desperate anymore. I don't need you to be a part of my life," he moved his hand to the side of Chandler's face and looked directly into his eyes. "But I _want_ you to be a part of my life, so, so very much. I'm not putting my happiness on your shoulders. I'm just genuinely free to be myself around you, so I feel happy when I'm around you. You just make everything better."

"I get it. That's how I feel about you. I did have a crush on you, but that was superficial. I didn't know you. And now that I do, you being part of my life just makes my life better. I hate that so many bad things have happened to you, but I'm really glad that you got out of a bad relationship. And I'm really glad that we're together now. If you're afraid that I'm going to think less of you because you made some bad decisions, I don't. That would make me a judgmental person who sees myself as better than you. And I don't. I really have no idea what I would have done in your place. If people had treated me the way you've been treated and all of those other things had happened, I think I would have struggled with finding the will to even get out of bed each day. Stale crackers look like a feast to a starving man. I think maybe you're too close to it still, but in five years or so, you'll see a barely 17-year-old somewhere and realize that what you went through was just a lot to deal with so young and you'll be less hard on yourself than you are right now. You expect a lot of yourself, which can be good, but like I said that day at my audition, if you work so hard all the time to get the future you want, you'll end up having nothing to look back on because you didn't live your life." Chandler kissed him. "I'm not looking for the perfect partner. I'm looking for someone to share the joy of living day to day. The night we stayed at the lake and got up to watch the sunrise together – I'll remember that forever. I knew I loved you then, but I didn't know whether it was too soon to say anything, so I didn't, but that didn't change how I felt at the time. I'm not bothered by the fact that you are human, and as such, fallible. If I've ever given you the impression that I expect you to be perfect, I'm sorry. I don't at all. I expect both of us to put effort into making our relationship strong, but you making mistakes like forgetting the shampoo I asked for or leaving the milk out isn't about the two of us. It's just life. Sometimes we check our lists twice and still skip over something." Chandler kissed him. "You're not perfect. I'm not perfect. We can be imperfect together. Perfection is overrated. The only way to be perfect is to do nothing and never try. Everyone fails at everything they ever try. We all have to practice to be good at anything. And sometimes we don't live long enough to practice enough to get anything perfect, but that doesn't change the fact that we can enjoy the process of getting good at something or just enjoy the process of doing it without regard to whether we get any better at it with each attempt."

"You're right. I've never thought about it that way. I've put enormous amounts of pressure on myself to do everything right. But when I listened to you talk about it, I realize that I've deprived myself of the joy of experiencing the process by only focusing on the outcome. When I only value a perfect outcome, the joy in creation process is lost and I'm never satisfied with the outcome. I've said more mean things to myself than every bully combined. I need to stop. How did you get so wise?" He kissed Chandler again, and again, and again.

"Well, honestly, I think my mom saw me struggle with perfectionism when I was young. I just remember her doing things with me and talking to me while pointing out how much fun it was to try something new. She also taught me that there is such a thing as 'good enough'. She said that sometimes things just needed done. And that a task done decently is better than an incomplete task that is perfectly incomplete."

"Like what?"

"Oh, let me think." He kissed Kurt breathless.

When they stopped to catch their breath, Kurt teased, "I'm pretty sure that's not thinking…"

"I know, but you're all close and hugging me and you just looked very kissable."

"You always look kissable."

"Then you know my struggle," he smiled and winked at Kurt. "Let me see…Like taking snacks to school for a field trip. I would try to make sure all of the bags were identical – one Oreo, one Chips Ahoy, one Nutter Butter, and one shortbread cookie. And when I'd get towards the end, there were never exactly the same number of cookies in each package, so I'd end up with some with two Oreos and no Nutter Butter. I'd want to get more of whatever I had run out of. And she'd point out that we didn't have time to go to the store again and that there was no point in spending extra money to make them perfect because she was sure that some of the kids would end up trading to get four Oreos or four Nutter Butters anyway. She said if we didn't finish packing up enough bags for all 25 kids, some kids would get zero cookies, which would be a lot worse than some kids having to trade more than once to get what they wanted. The 25 bags just needed to have four cookies each."

"That makes sense."

"I remember getting upset about misspelling a word in something I wrote for school that I had to write in ink. She showed me the white out tape. I didn't like how it was extra-white compared to the paper. I got upset and told her that it looked even worse because the mistake stood out on the page. She looked at me and told me that white out was invented because people make mistakes. She also pointed out that if I took the time to recopy my entire essay that I wouldn't have enough time to study my spelling words for the next day. I had to choose between leaving my paper with the mistake glaring out at me on the page and the potential of achieving a perfect score on my spelling. When I argued that I could just stay up later to work on the spelling words, she told me that children who did not sleep enough did poorly on tests and that no matter how much I studied, if I was sleepy when I took the test, I would never do as well as I could if I were well-rested."

"Your mom is a very smart woman."

"I'll tell her you said so. I'm sure she'll appreciate hearing it," he teased. He put his hands on Kurt's upper arms. "You asked about how knowing that stuff affects us. We're fine. I love you. I'm not going to start to pity you. I respect you too much for that. Life happened. Life goes on. Will we always get it right? Not unless we decide to never try to do anything beyond our current skill level. I want to live every day to the fullest. I think you're amazing and I'm really hoping that you want to do that with me."

"I do. I told you so last night. So you're not angry with me for not telling you all of this sooner?"

"No, I'm not. You were honest that first weekend we were here working on our coats. You went through a lot of difficult things and you told me you'd tell me eventually, but that you wanted us to get to know each other without so much negativity being at the forefront all the time. And you have kept your word. Nothing you've told me has contradicted anything else you told me, even though you've told it to me in bits and parts and out of order. I decided to trust you and you kept your word. It's just taken time like you said it would. If there's any anger in me, it comes from how upset it makes me that people intentionally hurt you because I care about you so much."

"So, we're okay?"

This time it was Chandler who made sure that Kurt was looking at him. "We're fine. I agree with what you said earlier about not wanting him barging in here to be what we remember about today. He's not going to be around anymore. We're leaving tomorrow for DC." He kissed Kurt. "I'm looking forward to our time there."

"Me too. I will say that I would not have chosen today to tell you that other stuff. I honestly just wanted today to be a lot of fun. I would have told you eventually though."

"Maybe it's better this way. Now, it's all out in the open, with nothing left to weigh you down. We can choose to acknowledge those things about your past that aren't pleasant to dwell on, yet also actively choose to leave them behind. It's like 'For Good' from _Wicked_ in a way. Those things happened and they shaped you, but you reshaped yourself as well. You didn't let those things define you permanently. Yeah, there for a while, it looked like you might not make it, but in the end, you've come out of the kiln spectacular. You're strong and resilient. And I want you every bit as much as I did this morning." He leaned forward and pressed their foreheads together. "I love you."

"I love you too. Thank you for being so understanding. You're an amazing boyfriend." He took a deep breath and sighed letting a lot of the tension flow out. "I not pleased that it happened the way it did, but I am relieved that he won't be around to try anything else. He's leaving town tomorrow and won't be back until after we've moved to New York." He ran his thumb along Chandler's cheek. "We're moving to New York City."

"We are. And tomorrow we're flying to DC with Marlene and Zach."

Kurt's phone alarm buzzed. "That's our cue to get to your house for your party."

Chandler kissed him once more before moving to put his shoes on.

* * *

Marlene managed to snatch Chandler away into the kitchen as soon as they got to Janine's house. Janine enlisted Kurt's help with putting the ice and drinks from the garage fridge into two coolers.

"Chandler, he's adorable," Marlene said. "I didn't get a chance to talk to you after the ceremony." She was nearly as excitable as Chandler. "I know we've talked about him lots of times, but seeing him in person is different."

Chandler just smiled at her. He clasped his hands behind his back and pushed up onto his toes and dropped back onto his heels.

She looked him over and exclaimed, "Oh, my God. You're in love with him."

He nodded. "I am."

She threw her arms around him and hugged him tight, nearly knocking him off balance. "I'm so glad for you."

"He loves me too. Last night we sat out back on the swing in his back yard and watched the sun set together." He continued with the story of what Kurt had done and how he had told him that he loved him.

"He's a romantic too. Good for you. I know that's what you've wanted."

"Yes. He's amazing and I can't wait to spend all week in DC."

"Help me move all of this stuff to the table."

They were arranging the desserts when Kurt and Janine came back in with the coolers. Chandler moved quickly and pulled the patio door open for them. They put them out on the back porch and came back inside.

Janine said, "It all looks good. People should start showing up in ten minutes or so. Thanks for letting us use all of the tables, yard games, and the photo booth and props. Marlene and I got them all set up, so everything's ready as far as I can tell."

"You're welcome. We had fun looking for stuff Thursday and making the photo booth."

Janine pulled her phone out to check it when it buzzed. "Toby and Grandma are about five minutes away.

The doorbell rang and the chaos began. About 30 of Janine and Chandler's friends from school came. Everyone went out back and started playing games and taking pictures in the photo booth. About a half-hour later, Sharon and Dinah got the cheesecake and the rest of the desserts out. Janine and Chandler posed for photos.

"Uncle Tim, 20 is enough. Let's eat," Marlene said.

Kurt saw Chandler quietly mouthing "Thank you." to Marlene.

Everyone got in line and took what they wanted. A few people ate inside, but everyone else went outside. Kurt nearly stayed back, letting Chandler go outside to spend time with his friends, but he saw Chandler look back over his shoulder and smile at him. He stepped to the side to let the people behind him go through, obviously waiting for Kurt to go with him. Kurt smiled back and followed him outside to a picnic blanket and sat down. Chandler put his plate down and went back to the coolers and pulled out two drinks. He took them back to the blanket and handed Kurt's to him with a kiss.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

When they finished eating, Kurt collected their trash. Before he got up, he said, "I'll be back in a few minutes. I need to make a phone call. I'm going to go into Toby's old room."

Chandler nodded.

Kurt tossed their trash on the way in and went down to Toby's room like he said. He closed the door behind him and scrolled through his contacts until he got to Cooper's name. He pressed the button to call him. After three rings, he finally picked up.

"Kurt? Is Blaine hurt or something?"

"Yes, but not physically. Do you have a few minutes?"

"For Blaine, sure. Give me a second. I need to move away from where I'm at." A couple of minutes later, there was significantly less background noise. "There, now I can hear you. You said he's hurt, but not physically? That doesn't make any sense."

"I'm not going to play tattletale anymore than absolutely necessary. Blaine and I broke up over two months ago."

"That would have been not long after I was there. He hasn't said a word to me."

"I'm not going to give you details. I don't want him to know that I called you."

"Got it. But you did, so tell me why. Do you think he's depressed or something?"

"I made it clear from the beginning that we weren't going to get back together, but for whatever reason, he believed that I would change my mind. He's really upset about the breakup. I have no reason to believe that his is suicidal. I just know that he's alone and lonely. I can't reach out to him. That would be a horrendous mistake on my part. But you could. You could just call him up out of the blue like you did in March. Put your own needs to the side for long enough to be the older brother he needs."

"I get it. I'll figure out a way to see him."

"Don't waste time either. He said that he's leaving for Six Flags tomorrow."

"Six Flags?"

"To work there again all summer."

"Alright. I'll get on it as soon as we hang up. Was there anything else?"

"No. I don't want to date him anymore, but I don't want him to be miserable. Honestly, I think he could use some therapy or counseling."

"I'll see what I can do. I have to get going if I'm going to get to wherever he is. I'll be sure and _not_ mention that you called. Anyway, thanks for the heads up. I gotta run."

"You're welcome." Kurt leaned back in the chair he was sitting in. He had done the only thing he could think to do. All he could do was hope that Cooper could get Blaine some help.

* * *

Kurt got up and went back outside to find Chandler. As soon as he stepped onto the porch, Chandler saw him.

He came jogging up. "Come on. We're up next to play badminton against Marlene and Zach." He handed Kurt a racket.

Kurt followed along behind and got into place. He and Chandler made a good team, but Marlene and Zach had experience playing together and they won. Once he and Kurt had handed the rackets off to two of Chandler's friends, Chandler pulled Kurt into a hug. Kurt relaxed into the hug and enjoyed how easily being physically affectionate came to Chandler.

Kurt had spent enough time with Sharon and James to see their constant affection and how easily they moved in and out of each other's spaces – a little touch here, a kiss on the cheek there. And they spoke to each other kindly. Chandler's Uncle Tim was less outgoing than James, but from what Kurt had seen, he was just as sweet to Dinah as James was to Sharon.

Whenever they were standing around talking, Chandler wrapped his arm around Kurt's waist or reached down and ran his thumb over the sensitive skin on the underside of Kurt's wrist or held his hand. Whenever Kurt caught his eye, Chandler winked or smiled or both. He intentionally included Kurt in conversations, but never talked for him or over him. Chandler made him feel like contributions to the conversation were both valuable and valued in a way that he had never experienced. He ended up enjoying Chandler's party more than his own because he really enjoyed talking with everyone.

Once Chandler and Janine's friends had left, they packed up the games and backyard activities and put them in the Navigator. They left the folding tables set up.

Dina pulled out a chopped salad that she had made along with a variety of salad toppings and put them all out on the counter. Tim and James brought in a platter of burgers, hot dogs, pork chops, and steaks they had grilled. Sharon put out a few types of salad dressing and finished up a fruit salad she was working on. Tim's parents and James' parents, as well as Tim's sister and her husband showed up right as they were finishing up setting the buffet.

The graduates went through the line first followed by the grandparents. Everyone took their food outside and sat at the picnic table and folding tables on the patio. Chandler introduced Kurt to everyone he hadn't met before. The meal was relaxed and enjoyable, just like the other family meals Kurt had shared with Chandler's family. Once everyone had finished, the teens helped clear the tables. Marlene, Zach, and Toby took the tables and chairs back to the Navigator.

Everyone went back outside and sat around on the picnic blankets and lawn chairs talking until it got dark enough to start the fireworks. Chandler sprayed down the middle of the yard and Toby brought out two concrete blocks and sat them down. They set off cones and fountains for about a half-hour.

Chandler walked Kurt out to the Navigator around the side of the house. In the darkness, Chandler wrapped his arms around Kurt. They ended up kissing for several minutes before walking the rest of the way around to the driveway. "I'll see you tomorrow at 11:00."

"I'll be ready." Kurt waved as he drove off.

* * *

Sam and Finn helped Kurt unload the back of the Navigator. He didn't really feel like he had the time, but he took them up on their offer of playing _Rock Band_ for a while. His excitement about Nationals, graduation, and DC had been good distractions to keep him from thinking about Sam moving back to Tennessee the next day. The sadness of losing Sam the next day hit him hard. He spent an hour playing with them before he went upstairs to shower and double-check everything he had packed for the trip.

* * *

Even though he hadn't slept long enough, Kurt got up early to help Mary, Carole, and Sam make a huge breakfast for everyone. The kids began to talk about Chandler's magic show, which broke the heavy silence that had permeated the room as people passed the plates around without saying anything. When they finished, Kurt excused himself and Sam followed him up to his room.

"I don't want this to happen," Kurt said. "We're going to be so far apart."

Sam moved closer and pulled Kurt into a hug. "We're always going to be friends. I'm going to miss you too. I have something for you."

"I have something for you too. Let me give you it first." He grabbed an envelope off the shelf.

Sam opened it, but looked confused.

"It's a code to use on that website. I found this amazing site that had a bundle of art programs for the price of a single one. Several of the ones you mentioned you'd like to have are part of the bundle."

"You're amazing." Sam pulled him into a hug. "Thank you. I'll be right back. Close your eyes." He stepped inside holding a 24"x36" painting. "Open your eyes."

"Oh, wow. It's the community garden that my mom helped found when the flowers were all in bloom late this spring. It's perfect. Thank you."

"I know how much you enjoy going there to think and find your inner peace when things are rough. I think you're going to love New York, but it will be new and busy and I thought this might help."

"It's perfect."

Sam leaned it against the bookcase and hugged Kurt one last time before he joined his family to head to Tennessee.


	17. Chapter 17

Kurt, Chandler, and Janine were seated next to each other on the plane. Zach and Marlene were across the aisle from them. Chandler was sitting in the middle holding a Washington, DC guidebook. Janine was to his right, near the window. She had a notebook and pencil in her hands. They were both looking over Chandler's shoulders. By the time their flight landed, they had worked out a daytime itinerary that Marlene endorsed. They had left their evening plans up to Marlene and Zach to plan.

They took the subway to Zach and Marlene's place and got there around 5:30. She put in two of the large pizzas from Costco that she had bought ahead of time to simplify dinner their first evening. They went over the itinerary again while the pizzas were in the oven. They sat around the TV and watched a movie while they ate. Once they finished, Kurt and Chandler gathered up their stuff and headed back to the subway to go to Burt's flat for the night before it got dark.

* * *

Kurt turned the key in the lock and let Chandler walk through. Kurt closed and locked the door behind them and flipped the extra lock as well. They walked through the tiny kitchen area, past the bathroom to their left, and put their suitcases near the closet, which was at the end of the bathroom and opened into the living area. Kurt went back into the kitchen area and put the leftover pizza and the juice Marlene had sent with them in the fridge.

"Dad said there were empty hangers in the closet we can use. How about we just get everything put away?"

"Sounds fine to me."

"Dad told me it was pretty much like a hotel room but with a sofa bed and a kitchenette. I think we've seen about ten different versions of this flat when we were looking through all of the apartments available in New York."

"I'm glad we found the place we did. I can see the point of a set up like this though. If you spend most of your time sleeping and doing work or watching TV, there wouldn't really be much sense in getting a place bigger than this here in DC. I'm sure the prices are just as bad as they are in New York. Your dad's probably paying $1000 a month for this place as it is."

"That's true. I've never asked, but I do know that when he's here working, he can't be spending that much time here with the commute to the Capitol Building." He laid his suitcase down on its side and unzipped it. He opened the closet and started hanging up his clothes.

Chandler did the same. "If you hand me your toiletries bag, I'll take it in the bathroom."

Kurt handed it to him. When he came back, Kurt was putting his non-hanging clothes in the low 6-drawer dresser that doubled as a TV stand. "You can put your stuff in here with mine. They don't leave much here when they're in Lima, but Carole moved her stuff into the other side with my dad's so we could use this side."

Ten minutes from when they had started, they had everything put away and their suitcases on the top shelf of the closet, out of the way.

Before Kurt shut the closet, he looked at their stuff hanging up and smiled.

Chandler saw him. "What's got you so smiley?" He stood next to Kurt and looked towards the closet.

"Our clothes look good together in the closet. I know it's sappy. It just made me happy to see our stuff together."

"Feel free to be sappy. I like it." He stepped forward and closed the closet doors and turned to face Kurt. He put his hands on Kurt's waist and kissed him. "We've had a whirlwind couple of days. How about we shower, and then we snuggle?"

"Another one of your excellent ideas. I'm too hyped up to sleep yet, but snuggling sounds perfect."

* * *

Kurt transformed the sofa into the bed and made it while Chandler was in the shower. While Kurt was in the shower and doing his nighttime skincare routine, Chandler double-checked the subway schedules and the map.

"Should I use a different moisturizer?" Chandler asked when Kurt came out of the bathroom.

"Your skin looks great. Whatever you're doing seems to work well. I just have dry skin. It takes extra effort to keep it from being flaky, while not clogging my pores with products or making it oily. When we went for the facials, I don't recall you being given any suggestions for skin care."

"I didn't really think about it. She asked what I used and when I told her, she just nodded."

"Well, if she didn't offer you some suggestions, I think you've found what works for you. I brought one of those small air travel approved bottles of my body lotion if you want to try the massages again."

"Definitely. Do you want to try tonight?"

Kurt blushed. He turned back and grabbed the lotion bottle from the bathroom.

"I'm never going to push you. I'll go first. You can use the lotion on me and you can think about how you want me to do yours. Unless, you're not ready for that either and we can just do it the way we did at your house. Your choice."

Kurt sat down next to him at the head of the bed. He slipped the bottle of lotion under his pillow to keep it from rolling off the bed. "I'm going to be mortifyingly honest. Being with you made me understand why people in movies want to undress their date and make out with them – and more."

"Well, we're on the same page then." Chandler turned and faced Kurt. He slipped his hand behind Kurt's head and drew him forward and kissed him. "You are gorgeous and amazing. I'm all for making out and more." He pressed in and licked at Kurt's upper lip. He moved and sat straddling Kurt's lap. He ran his other hand through Kurt's hair. He pressed in and they kissed until they were breathless. He pressed his forehead to Kurt's. He was still slightly panting, "You are so hot."

Kurt ran his hand down Chandler's arms and back up, moving his hands to cup his face. He pressed forward and started the kissing again. He pulled his feet around to his sides and pushed up onto his knees. He slipped a hand behind Chandler's neck and toppled them forward so that Chandler was on his back with his head towards the foot of the bed. He repositioned again and straddled Chandler, leaning forward on his elbows, which continuing to kiss his neck. He trailed the kisses up towards his ear. "I love you. And this is amazing, but you'll have to actually say what you mean by 'more'."

Chandler couldn't keep his eyes open with the onslaught of amazing kisses. "Um. Shirts. How about we take our shirts off?"

Kurt sat up and whipped his off and laid it next to him on the bed.

Chandler sat up enough to pull his off as well. He lay back and just stared at Kurt for a few seconds before he reached out. "Can I?"

"Mmm hmm. Me too?"

"Yeah. Please."

Kurt ran his hands across Chandler's shoulders and down his arms. "What if we take turns? I don't want to rush through this just to get to some other 'base' or whatever. No one's ever touched me and I want to enjoy every second of it."

"Me too. You can go first since I'm already lying down."

Kurt started with his right hand and worked his way up across and down to his left hand, caressing and touching Chandler gently. "Okay?"

"Fantastic."

Kurt started again at Chandler's left hand, this time kissing all the way up, across, and down to his right hand, all the while eliciting moans and whimpers. "Still good?"

"Yes. Definitely yes."

Kurt took note of what areas yielded the most moaning and whimpering for the future. After he placed a kiss in his right palm, he moved back to his lips, still on his hand and knees. He slipped down to his elbows to reach more easily. He kissed along Chandler's jaw again. "Now, I see why were supposed to do so many pushups."

Chandler cracked up. "I had never considered that." He ran his hands through Kurt's hair. "Maybe we should add them to our morning or evening routines."

"Mmm. We can think about it." He kissed him again before he sat back up. He went back to his careful exploration, moving on to Chandler's chest. He leaned down and turned his head, placed his ear against Chandler's chest. He stayed like that for a few seconds. "Your heart is beating really fast."

"I'm very turned on."

"Me too." He kissed him once more, very gently and sat back and flopped back on his back. "Your turn."

Chandler sat up and straddled Kurt. "You're sure? I want you to want this, not just because I did."

"I'm sure." Kurt reached for Chandler's hands and interlaced their fingers. He pulled Chandler forward and put his hands up by his ears, so that Chandler's weight was on Kurt's hands. "Kiss me?"

Chandler released Kurt's hands, so he wouldn't hurt him. He leaned down and kissed him. "Any time."

"I want you to touch me. I love you and I'm in love with you and I really want this."

Chandler pushed up and began to use his hands to explore Kurt's arms and upper body.

Kurt closed his eyes. He began to nearly writhe. He was whimpering and moaning. Chandler stopped for just a second.

Kurt opened his eyes. "That feels amazing. Don't stop, please."

Chandler gazed intently into Kurt's eyes.

Kurt saw kindness and compassion and desire.

"I just wanted you to look at me. I love you." He leaned down and kissed him gently. "You were squirming quite a bit. I just wanted to make sure you were enjoying it. And you said you were, so I'll keep going."

"It feels amazing. It tickles, but in the most torturously amazing way."

Chandler went back to running his fingertips along Kurt's arms. This time Kurt did his best to keep his eyes open. Every time they slipped shut and he reopened them, he was met with the same beautiful smile and love-and-desire-filled gaze. Chandler switched to lightly massaging Kurt's arms to relax him.

Chandler reached for the small bottle of lotion. "I said you could do me first and then you could decide."

Kurt propped up on his elbows and kissed Chandler. "Okay." He took the bottle of lotion from him. He scooted over and gave Chandler room to lie down. He put a little bit of lotion on each of his thumbs and began to work it into Chandler's shoulders.

"That feels so good. You can rub harder, though, to get those knots out."

"M'kay," Kurt said as he kissed along Chandler's neck. Kurt's hands held out for about ten minutes before he went back to lighter pressure and eventually he was just caressing Chandler.

"That felt really good. My shoulders are a lot more relaxed. Ready to switch?"

"Yeah. Thanks for not… I don't know how to explain it. I just appreciate you being patient and gentle."

"Lie down next to me." He scooted to his left to make room for Kurt. He turned on his side to face him. "My goal is for you to feel good." He put his hand on Kurt's shoulder and ran his hand down to Kurt's and held it. "Whatever that is for you – that's what I want to do. A massage with your shirt on or off. Or not at all tonight. Any of those options would fine. You already know how I feel about putting all of my focus on the outcome, which in this case is an exclusive dating situation between two adults – the physical aspect of the relationship would lead to sex. But not every gay couple goes 'all the way'."

"You want to enjoy the journey, not just focus on how quickly you can push to achieve the goal."

"Exactly. And I've loved every second of tonight and if it ends here, I'll be happy. And if you'd like me to give you massage, I'll enjoy that too. I'm perfectly capable of getting up and going into the bathroom and taking care of myself. Being with you is about more than that, although I do think about that. I _am_ an 18-year-old guy."

Kurt smiled. "I get it. You're not a 'rush to the finish line' kind of guy. You're the 'take the scenic route and enjoy the journey' kind of guy. We've talked about me putting too much pressure on myself to perform at a nearly-impossible-to-achieve high level all the time. The whole topic causes me more than one type of anxiety."

"Well, I won't be patronizing and tell you just stop being anxious. Obviously, if people could do that, they would. I'll just keep telling you how much I love you and how much I enjoy being with you."

Kurt scooted forward just enough to just barely kiss Chandler. "I'd like the shirtless massage." He turned face down and scooted to the center a bit more when Chandler sat up.

Chandler put some of the lotion on the tips of his fingers and thumbs and began to rub it into Kurt's shoulders. He used his thumbs to loosen the tense muscles between the base of Kurt's neck and his shoulder blades. He pressed in near Kurt's spine and pressed up and a away from where he started, decreasing the pressure with each outward motion.

"That's perfect," Kurt said.

Chandler moved to the base of his spine and used the same technique all the way up. When he got back up to his shoulders, he ran his hands across them and then off to the side and started kissing along Kurt's shoulders and neck with just enough pressure not to tickle.

"I'm a pile of goo. That was amazing. Will you turn the light off and get in bed with me?"

"Are we sleeping shirtless?"

"If it's okay with you."

Chandler put the lotion on the dresser, turned the light off, and lay down on his back next to Kurt. Kurt rolled onto his side and got Chandler to scoot closer so he could lie on his chest.

"Thank you."

"My pleasure." He pressed gentle kisses in Kurt's hair. "I like the way your shampoo smells."

"Mmm. I'm glad." He tipped his head back and kissed Chandler. "I'm so relaxed. Let's try to sleep. Can you sleep with me like this?"

"I'm willing to give a try." He ran his hand down Kurt's arm and slipped his hand under and laid it on Kurt's side. He closed his eyes and relaxed.

* * *

The next morning, Chandler woke up with Kurt snuggled up tight behind him as the big spoon. Kurt was softly kissing the back of his neck. When he stirred, Kurt squeezed him a bit with the arm he had wrapped around him.

"Good morning, handsome," Kurt said. "If we get up now, we can eat warm pizza for breakfast. Or we can snuggle for 15 minutes and eat cold pizza."

"Cold pizza never sounded so good. I'll be right back." He got up and went to the bathroom.

When he came out, Kurt had put the slices of pizza in the oven on warm. He slipped into the bathroom, shooing Chandler back to the bed. When he came out, he got back in bed with Chandler.

"When I woke up enough, I realized that we could warm the pizza up slowly while we snuggle and not risk burning it."

"I might decide that I like leftover pizza for breakfast every morning if I get to snuggle you more while also getting to sleep longer."

"We'll work on it." He ran his hands through Chandler's hair. "So your thoughts on the shirtless sleeping?"

"I'm all for it. I told you that I was used to sleeping in my underwear. That's how I hope we eventually end up sleeping. Or completely naked."

Kurt blushed.

Chandler kissed him. "No pressure. Just eventually."

"It would save on laundry," Kurt teased to lower the tension.

"Very true." He scooted a bit closer and propped up a bit and kissed along Kurt's neck and across his shoulder.

* * *

"It's so much bigger than I had imagined," Kurt said when they came up from the Smithsonian Metro Station. He looked down the Mall towards the Capitol Building and then towards the Lincoln Memorial, which was too far away to actually see.

"Well, we have a whole week." He squeezed Kurt's hand. "And we can come back at some point to see more."

They walked away from the stairs to the subway entrance so they weren't impeding other people from moving through the area. It didn't take long for Marlene and Janine to arrive.

"I know we had planned the botanic gardens for Friday, but when I looked at the forecast, they've moved the rain from Sunday up to Friday," Marlene said. "So, I think we need to move that to tomorrow and still go to the zoo on Wednesday."

"Alright. That's fine," Chandler said. "We had picked Friday based on the extended forecast of partially cloudy and a little less hot, but tomorrow is fine."

"Let's get ourselves over to the sculpture garden and start our day of art."

Kurt and Chandler walked together hand in hand, with Marlene on Chandler's other side and Janine to her left. Kurt knew that he was a welcomed member of the group, but he also knew that this trip had been planned by the other three for a long time as a celebration of Chandler and Janine graduating from high school. He squeezed Chandler's hand, causing him to smile even more as he was talking about seeing the sculptures in person.

"When I first saw the thumbnail photo of _Aurora_ , I thought it was a Calder, but when I looked closer, it was completely different, while similar because of the materials he used."

Janine said, "I've never really seen any large sculptures, so I'm excited."

They bypassed the south entrance and walked around the edge to go in through the east entrance. They saw _Four-Sided Pyramid_ as they reached the southeast corner. They walked past the back of _Thinker on a Rock_ before they turned left and walked into the garden area itself. They turned left and walked counterclockwise, allowing them to view _Thinker on a Rock_ from the front on their left. To their right, they saw _Cubi._ They walked past the pyramid again as they circled around. They stopped to view each sculpture and Kurt used the new camera he had gotten as his graduation gift from his parents to photograph each one.

Janine said, "Give me your camera, Kurt. You and Chandler go stand in front of the _Amor_ sculpture and kiss. But let me get the shot framed right and you two in the right position first." She moved and had them move a couple of times until she was convinced she had the shot just right. "Kiss."

They were already standing really close together from following Janine's instructions. Kurt raised his eyebrow asking Chandler's permission. He smiled and nodded slightly. They wrapped their ands around each other at the waist and kissed. They turned to look at Janine afterwards, both smiling, but just a little nervous for kissing in public. They looked back at each other. Kurt leaned in and pressed his forehead to Chandler's and took his hands interlacing their fingers. When he straightened his head back up he turned to look at the sculpture. Chandler did as well.

Kurt turned back to Janine. "Did you get a good shot?"

"Yep!" she said excitedly. "Come on. Let's go sit in the seats. She pointed to _Six-Part Seating_ , which they were actually allowed to sit on.

Kurt took photos of Janine and Marlene from the left and Janine took pictures of Kurt and Chandler from the right so that they'd be able to make a fun collage where they looked like they were all facing each other.

Once they had seen all of the sculptures, they turned right off the path and went to the center to look at the fountain before they left the garden to go to the West Building of the National Art Gallery.

Later that afternoon, they walked into the part of the gallery with the impressionist paintings. Kurt turned to Chandler. "I forgot to tell you. Sam gave me a painting yesterday morning before left for Tennessee. It's beautiful. I'm thinking we can hang it over the top of the fuse box that's on the wall where the bathroom door is, over the table."

"Sounds fine to me. What did he paint?"

"The community gardens when the flowers were in bloom this spring. You'll like it."

"I'm sure I will." He squeezed Kurt's hand. "We're moving to New York to our apartment in a little over four weeks."

"We are."

* * *

Kurt unlocked the door and let Chandler walk through first. He pushed the door closed and locked it. They started putting the groceries they had bought away.

"I think the suitcases were the perfect solution for our shopping," Chandler said. "We might considering using them in New York too so we can go shopping less frequently. We could both wear backpacks too."

"I had considered one of those granny pull-behind shopping carts as an option too."

"That could work if we put one of those big water-proof laundry bags inside it."

"Good idea. I think we need to take a taxi the first time and stock our cabinets full. Rice, flour, pasta, beans, meat. Maybe we can do that like every other month, so our weekly trips will be easier."

"That's a good idea." Chandler zipped his suitcase and put it back in the top of the closet. He put Kurt's up next.

"We need to get those ice packs in the freezer." He grabbed them out of the backpack cooler that Marlene had brought their food in for the day. He turned back around and was met with a kiss from Chandler. "Mmm." Kurt put his hands on Chandler's hips and began to dance him to the counter. "Spinach lasagna tonight?" He asked between kisses.

"Sure. Let's go swimming while it bakes."

"You always have such good ideas." Kurt kissed him again before he let go of him.

* * *

"Two minutes left on the timer," Chandler said when they came back up from the pool.

"Perfect."

Chandler pinned Kurt to the door and kissed him until the timer went off. He went to the stove and pulled the baking dish out of the oven and left it on top of the stove to cool. He turned around and was faced with Kurt who kissed him, before turning around and waggling his tush to the bathroom door.

"What's the swagger for? Are you inviting me to follow you?"

"Well, yes, but maybe not for what you're thinking. I was thinking we could shower quickly in our swim trunks together to rinse off for now and get the chlorine out of our hair."

"Okay."

"That was easy," said, as he turned back to face Chandler.

"Ah, see there is the key. I was not easy to get, but now that you have me, I'm all yours." He kissed Kurt breathless.

"I see," he said. He turned and opened the door to the bathroom. "Come on then. I want to wash your hair."

* * *

"We are good cooks, if I say so myself," Chandler said as he packed up the other half of the lasagna to eat another night.

Kurt washed the glass baking dish. "That's true. Now, to making lunch for everyone for tomorrow."

They worked together quickly to finish the dishes and pack everything for the next day.

When they were nearly done, Chandler said, "Why don't you go do your face stuff and I'll finish. We'll get done at the same time that way."

Kurt kissed his shoulder as he walked past on his way to the bathroom.

When he came out, Chandler had the bed ready and only one light was still on. He was sitting at the table. He had downloaded Picassa on the laptop his family had given him as a graduation present while Kurt was still in the bathroom.

"I didn't know where the cord to your camera was."

"I'll get it." He grabbed it out of the top dresser drawer and put it on the table. He sat down and scooted his chair as close to Chandler's as he could. He wrapped his arm around the back of his chair and ran his fingers along Chandler's upper arm.

"Mmm." Chandler turned and kissed him. "I already loaded a CD." He took the cord and plugged the camera in.

Once the photos were all downloaded, they looked through them.

"Janine's pictures of us are really good."

"She took a photography class at school and worked on the yearbook."

"I want to print a few of these when we get to New York. I want to hang them up or put them in a frame on a shelf."

Chandler saved a duplicate copy of his favorite photo of them in front of _Amor_. He went into the black and white filters and filtered the colors until he got a good balance.

"Ooh, I really like that."

"Me too. I like the original too, but with the black and white, we become the focus instead of the red sculpture behind us." He clicked to save the changes. He clicked through the rest of the pictures. He saved all of them to the CD and disconnected Kurt's camera.

Kurt put the cable back in the drawer and the camera on top of the dresser and plugged it in to charge it for the next day. "Ready to pretend to watch a movie while we kiss and snuggle?"

"Absolutely."

* * *

Tuesday morning they had tickets to the Washington Monument. Afterwards they spent four hours at the National Botanic Gardens. Zach managed to get off two hours early and met them at the place he had chosen. They waited outside for him to get there.

When he got there, he said, "In case you're wondering, yes, I am still 12 years old. I've never been to a place like this, and it looked like too much fun to pass up. Come on. I think this is going to be so much fun."

They opened the door and went in. The inside was dark and lit by black light. There was an indoor mini golf course, laser tag, an arcade, a mini bowling alley, and a snack bar.

They all looked around.

"I'm 12 too," Chandler said.

"Me too," Kurt added.

"Yeah, me too," Marlene said.

"I want to own one of these in Lima. I will be rich," Janine said. "Or at least have a job I like."

They spent the next several hours playing mini golf, mini bowling, video games, and shooting and chasing each other with laser tags guns.

After their final laser tag match, Zach corralled everyone to the snack bar. "Alright, in the spirit of connecting with our inner child, we're having ice cream for dinner. Get in line. My treat."

Everyone got in line and ordered two scoops of ice cream in waffle cones.

* * *

Wednesday they were up early and made breakfast burritos together.

Chandler said, "Why don't you pour us some orange juice and I'll get these plated?"

"Sure." Kurt sat down after he put both glasses on the table.

"You know what?" Chandler asked, as he leaned over and put Kurt's plate on the table in front of him.

"What?"

Chandler kissed him on the cheek. "I love you."

Kurt smiled. "I love you too. Sit next to me." He waited for Chandler to sit down. "You know what?" Kurt asked, imitating Chandler's question.

"What?"

"This is totally silly of course, but you do you know what one of my favorite things about you is? Remember, it's not an actually important thing."

"Tell me."

"I really like it that you're left handed because we can still hold hands while we eat or take notes while we're studying. Now that you have a laptop, we can even hold hands while we read things online since you keep your mouse on the left side of your keyboard."

Chandler reached for Kurt's hand. "I don't think anyone has ever been glad that I'm left-handed." He pulled Kurt's hand to his mouth and kissed his knuckles. "But you're right, it does make holding your hand while we're doing things a lot easier." He put their hands, fingers entwined, on his leg. "I'm excited to see the pandas today."

"Me too."

* * *

After making it a little more than halfway through the National Zoo, the four of them stopped at the restrooms and got in line at the Mane Grill. They took their food to an empty table and sat down together.

"I wonder what you have to study, if anything, to get to feed the animals," Chandler said. "It seems like a fantastically entertaining job, especially the seals and sea lions. They are so energetic and fun to watch. I still love the belugas in Chicago, though."

Marlene said, "I actually have no idea, but it does look like a fun job, unless they bite."

Janine laughed. "The pandas are so cool to see in person."

"They really are," agreed Kurt. "I think it would be really cool to do one of those zookeeper for a day things I've heard about. That would actually be a super cool thing to save up for."

"Actually, it would," Janine said. "We should look into different places and see which zoos have the best program like that. Maybe we could save up and go somewhere cool next summer."

"I'm in," Chandler said.

"It is a cool idea," Marlene agreed. "I bet we could even get Toby to come. He'd have a good time."

"I wanted him to come this week," Janine said, but he took a summer class that's super intense so he couldn't leave for a week halfway through the class. He said it's mid-term this week."

"We can plan for the earliest week in May that everyone is out of class. You can all let me know one you see your academic calendars. With Toby graduating next May, he'll want to start job hunting and no one is going to want to give him time off a month or two into a new job."

Kurt nodded. "That's fine. We can all email you our academic calendars." He looked at the zoo map. "If no one minds, I want to take that little loop past the Great Cats Gift Shop and go watch the seals and sea lions again before we see the apes and the other animals."

"Sure," Marlene said. "They were a lot of fun."

* * *

The rain moved in even sooner than had been forecasted. They spent the day Thursday inside the National Museum of Natural History. Walking through dinosaur fossils made Kurt miss Sam. Seeing them reminded him out countless mock arguments the two of them had about the true nature of the way dinosaurs looked. Feathers? Scales? Spots? Stripes? Patterned somehow like tigers? It had all started when Stevie had given Sam a dinosaur coloring book for Christmas. Kurt had learned a lot about coloring and shading during the discussions that took place while he and Sam used colored pencils to color the pages in the coloring book together.

Chandler noticed his slightly watery eyes and squeezed his hand. "Are you okay?"

Kurt blinked a few times and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Chandler raised his eyebrows and turned to face him. He reached out and put his left hand on Kurt's waist. "Please don't shut me out."

Marlene and Janine kept walking and were looking at the huge T Rex from the other side.

Kurt took a deep breath. "I miss Sam."

"I wondered how long that would take."

"You'll laugh at me if I tell you."

Chandler reassured him, "I'll laugh with you, if it's funny. Otherwise, I will listen, not make fun of you."

"You're right. I'm sorry."

"Your gut instinct is hard to fight. I know that you know that I wouldn't belittle you in any way."

Kurt nodded. "Stevie gave him a dinosaur coloring book for Christmas. When he came back, he and I started discussing the possible ways dinosaurs could have looked. We colored the pictures together and talked. It was silly and fun – and just perfect. I miss him already and it's going to be hard without him."

"I know. Janine is here this week with us, but it's going to be so hard without her in New York. We've been friends since we were born."

"I think deep down I feel like it's different." Kurt started to walk towards another skeleton. "I feel like there isn't any chance of you actually losing your best friend. The fact that you're cousins and that you have been friends since you were born feels so much more solid and dependable than me and Sam. He and I have only been really close for about six months. We were friendly last year, but I was at Dalton half the school year. We kept in contact after he went to Kentucky, but it wasn't the same. Stevie and Stacey were always there, interrupting us if he'd call when they were awake. And when he'd try to stay up late to talk to me after he got home from work in the evening, he struggled to stay awake because Stacey is an early riser, waking him up at 5:00 in the morning. Anyway, it's just life. He doesn't want to live in New York, so us being apart is inevitable. And I just know with how much work FIT requires, it will be a struggle to stay close. And honestly, when we're not living together and spending time together, we really don't have much in common. And even what we do have in common will dwindle down to not much of anything with him being in rural Tennessee and me being in New York City."

Chandler let go of Kurt's hand and wrapped his arm around Kurt, not caring one bit what anyone thought of his public display of affection. "I know this may sound insensitive, but I want you to consider the fact that some people come into our lives for a season and while they're there, having them with us is the most amazing thing. And when the season is over, it's hard to see them go, but if this really is the end of your time with Sam, then try to remember how much it meant to you that he was with you the last six months rather than trying to force him to be something he might not be able to be any more. You'll both be happier and cherish the time you had together rather than constantly feeling guilty for not being able to maintain the level of friendship you had."

Kurt nodded. "For now, I'm going to get myself together. Let's tell them were going to the restroom."

After they washed their hands, Kurt got the edge of a paper towel wet and blotted his eyes with cold water. When he opened his eyes again, Chandler kissed him.

"Let's go look at more dinosaurs." He winked and took Kurt's hand again.


	18. Chapter 18

Sunday evening when they arrived back in Lima, Sharon dropped Janine of at home and they headed to the Hummel's for a late dinner. Finn was at Puck's, so it was just the six of them. While the adults cleaned up and Kurt put their clothes from the trip in the washer and started it, Chandler set up his computer to show the parents a CD of their favorite photos that they put together on the flight back.

The parents sat close together in an L-shape at the head and side of the table. Kurt and Chandler stood behind them and told them about the pictures. They talked about all of the museums – American history, aviation, art, natural history, the botanic gardens, and the zoo.

They hadn't gone overboard on souvenirs, buying only one thing each. Kurt had picked up a burnished stainless and glass art deco reproduction dragonfly pin at the art museum gift shop. Chandler had branched out and bought his first pin, which was a burnished stainless lion's head that reminded him of poster of the Broadway version of _The Lion King_. He planned to put in on the lapel of the navy thigh-length coat that he and Kurt had altered.

While Chandler shut his computer back down and packed it up, Kurt went to the laundry to wait the last few minutes of the washing machine cycle so he could grab their clothes that didn't go in the dryer and hang them up.

Kurt and Chandler had planned to work on some of their designs at the shop the next morning, so Chandler was staying the night. He said goodnight to his parents before they left and then joined Kurt in the laundry room and started to move the other clothes to the dryer and then helped him finish up. They went upstairs and showered and Chandler went back down to grab the dry clothes while Kurt did his nighttime skincare routine.

* * *

"I'm glad your parents are okay with letting you stay," Kurt said as he scooted back against Chandler's chest. He could feel the soft hair on Chandler's thighs pressing against the back of his own. He wiggled just a bit more to get completely comfortable. He reached back and ran his fingertips along the side of Chandler's leg, what little bit of it he could reach. "I like sleeping like this. If you had asked me what my thoughts were on the topic as a get-to-know-you dating question, I would have said 'no', but I was wrong. Really wrong."

Chandler ran his thumb along Kurt's chest and pressed a gentle kiss to his shoulder.

"I never saw myself being vulnerable enough to let anyone close to me like this, but with you it's different. I just feel so much more comfortable than I had imagined that I ever could. I still don't find pornography interesting. I used to say that I liked old movies because the touch of the fingertips was as sexy as it got. There was so much more to the romance of it than just sex scenes like there are in recent movies. I think maybe I'm not normal."

"Normal is just a setting on the dryer," Chandler teased. He kissed Kurt's shoulder again. "I love you just the way you are. I never made plans to watch porn with my future boyfriend, so you're certainly not letting me down in some way or preventing me from fulfilling some fantasy I had."

"That's good to know. Really, that actually makes me feel better. A lot better."

"I know you're comfortable, but can you turn over?"

"Umm hmm." He waited for Chandler to scoot back so he could roll over.

Chandler reached out and ran his fingers through Kurt's hair. "Neither one of us knows what we'll like or dislike when it comes to moving past where we are. I just want you to know that if something doesn't make you feel good, it's not going to be enjoyable to me. I'm open to trying whatever we want to, but I know that there's very little chance of both of us liking every single thing we try. I want us to be honest, even if it's really hard to do. It took us a few times of giving each other massages before we realized what we each really like. I had only had a few for medical reasons and you had never had one. We had to figure out what we liked. Other things will be like that too. We'll do things in ways that aren't optimal the first few times because we're new at it, but if it never gets to where we're both enjoying it, then we'll eliminate whatever it is from the list of things we do together and move on to something else."

Kurt pushed forward just enough to kiss Chandler gently. "You are the best boyfriend."

"Hmm. Being a decent human being shouldn't qualify me for best boyfriend, but I'll always be the best boyfriend I can. I'm sure there will be days that I will be lousy at it and others where everything I want to do for you will work out." He pressed in and kissed Kurt breathless. When he caught his breath, he ran his thumb across his cheek gently. "I just want you to know that I still love you, even on those days when everything's gone wrong and I can't find the flash drive I desperately need and I start panicking and I raise my voice. And I still love you if I get upset and vent because someone else got the role I really wanted. Even if I'm angry at the world and I just stop talking for the day because I just can't anymore, I still love you." He wiped the tears that escaped from Kurt's eyes. "These are happy tears." He leaned forward and kissed Kurt on each eyelid.

"They are. When you were talking before about us both enjoying something, I think it also reasonable to do something I don't hate that you love, just because I want to do something that makes you feel amazing. Or the other way around. As an offering of love. I'm not talking about things that we actually find painful or really uncomfortable, just things we might not pick for ourselves. Just like we've discovered that we like different things in a massage, we'll like other things to differing degrees or done in different ways."

"I see the difference. I agree with you, I think. We haven't tried foot massages. When we do, you might love it and I might hate it because I'm too ticklish to relax. But maybe I like hand massages and you don't. So, I could give you a foot massage and you could give me a hand massage."

"But sometimes I might just want to give you a hand massage because I want to, even though I don't get something in return. Like a gift to you."

"Sure. That seems completely reasonable. I just want us to keep talking and working through things. I never want us to get to the point where you're giving me six hand massages a day and I'm doing nothing."

"I cannot even imagine you doing that, but I see your point." He kissed Chandler. "I can see myself spoiling you though, so just be prepared," he teased. He pressed in and deepened the kiss. "I love you and we could keep this up for ages, but I have to be able to weld in the morning, so I've got to get some sleep."

Chandler teased him, "You're the one who keeps kissing me."

"Because you're so kissable. You're incredibly hot and you're in my bed."

"I see your dilemma." He pecked Kurt on the lips. "It's the same as mine, except for ownership of the bed."

Kurt laughed. "I'm turning over now. Let's snuggle and sleep."

* * *

The next morning, they headed to the shop to meet up with Cassius.

"So, I've brought in some pieces and parts of stuff. You mentioned being specifically interested in pipes." He pointed over towards one of the tool cabinets. "You can take that box of stuff out back and lay it out on the tarp I brought."

Kurt grabbed each of them a pair of gloves on the way outside. They pulled all of the pieces out and spread them out and sorted them. When they finished, they looked at their options.

"Well, those two would work really well for the bath towel rods." Kurt pointed to the ones he thought would work. "The ones in this pile are the same circumference, but shorter. I could cut the four longest ones the same length and six of the others the same length for the supports." Kurt mumbled to himself and fished through the different stacks and piled pieces and bits and parts together for a while.

Chandler mostly just smiled and watched him, intermingled with answering questions that were actually directed at him.

Thirty minutes later, Kurt had several distinct piles.

"I'm ready to start turning these pieces into stuff. Do you want to hang around and watch me? Do you want me to teach you how to weld?"

"Would you? Maybe I can watch you for a while, and then I can help make something? That would be really cool to make one of the things together."

"We can do that."

He stood up and kissed Chandler just as Cassius came around the corner.

"Find some useful stuff?"

"Yeah. I've sorted it out. I just need to get things set up. Chandler wants to try his hand at it too after watching for a while."

"Sounds good to me. It's not supposed to rain today, so you should just be able to leave stuff lay out here on the tarp until you're ready for it."

* * *

Chandler had to work on Tuesday. He had traded with someone to get time of the week before, so he worked two shifts. He stopped by the shop when he got off.

Kurt had worked on the welding projects on Tuesday as well. By the end of the day, he had a standing paper towel holder, a standing combo dishrag rack and 2-mug holder, a napkin holder, a swiveling multi-towel rack for their bathroom, legs for two freestanding shelves to use on their desks, and the pieces needed to make side shelves to connect to their bed frame. He hadn't come up with a way to make his clothes drying rack/musical staff idea work, so he just put it together as an art piece to hang over their bed.

"Well, you've been productive today," Chandler said.

"I have. What do you think?"

"I think you're amazing."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Not about me. About the pieces."

"Also amazing."

"You're easy to impress." Kurt turned and kissed him quickly.

"That may be, but you're still amazing. Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah. We just need to wrap this stuff up. Did you bring the newspaper?"

"I did. It's in my trunk. I'll go get it."

Once they had everything wrapped up, Kurt cleaned up and changed back into his t-shirt and shorts. "I have everything in my bag for Brittany's. We can leave the Navigator at my place and ride together over there. I need to pick up the vegetable tray I made last night too."

"I said I'd bring chips and salsa, so I still need to stop and pick that up on the way."

* * *

"So how did your trip to Muncie go?" Chandler asked.

Santana answered, "It went really well. The school is really nice and modern. The town around it is a lot like Lima, so I imagine the two us will stay on campus mostly. We have a dorm room together, so I can't really see much of a reason for us to leave campus anyway."

"I like it there," Brittany said, as she sat down in Kurt's lounge chair with him.

He scooted over and made room for her, letting her snuggle into his side.

"They understand me there."

Kurt and Chandler looked confused.

Brittany went on. "I had to see someone because they wanted to understand why I have such lopsided grades and test scores. I spent all day talking to different people who were interested in what I had to say. They didn't even laugh when I told them that letters and numbers had their own colors and that each music note is a different color too."

"Oh?" Kurt asked, actually curious as to what she was talking about.

Santana said, "Yeah, I joined her at the end of the second day and they told us about synesthesia, which is what she just described. Some people really do see a color when they hear a note."

"I bet she has perfect pitch then," Chandler said.

"She probably does," Kurt said.

Brittany said, "I didn't know until after I talked to everyone that I was rare, but like in a good way. Everyone just thought it was weird that I liked to use crayons and use different colors for the different letters. They just look so wrong all black and boring. Like when Kurt just wore gym clothes at school. We could still tell it was him, but he just looked all wrong."

"That's really interesting," Kurt said. "I can see why you like to use crayons so much. I think maybe in college you'll need to let some of your work be really boring though and save the colorful work for the teachers who appreciate it. And maybe you could get a really big set of markers or pens instead of crayons because they might melt in your backpack since you'll have to walk to class when it's really hot outside."

"That's a good point. I'll go shopping for new markers. I like those Flair tip pens. Maybe they sell those it big packages with lots of colors."

"They do," Kurt said. "Go to Sam's Club. They sell a pack of like 30 or 36 different colors. I have a set. I like them because they don't bleed through the back of the paper like a lot of regular markers do."

"If I give you the money, will you buy me the biggest set they have?" Brittany asked.

"Sure," Kurt said. "You can even come with me if you want."

"Okay. I also found out that I have an auditory processing disorder, which I guess means that my brain mixes up what I hear sometimes, especially when there's a lot of other noise. So, like I hear 'fly' instead of 'thigh' or 'sky' or something, but it happens a lot in class when people make noise I guess. That's why I get so confused. The teacher talks about something and all these random words that don't seem to fit what she's talking about keep popping out of her mouth. I read the book, but it doesn't always help. And when there's a group of people talking, I usually just stay quiet because I always say something stupid. It doesn't seem stupid to me, but it's probably because my brain mixed up what someone said and say something about 'thighs' instead of 'flies'. And sometimes I say the wrong thing too. And then I sound really stupid. It's so frustrating."

Kurt said, "That explains so much. Isn't that something that should have been figured out when you were little? It sounds kind of like auditory dyslexia. Don't they test kids for stuff like this?"

Santana said, "Probably in good school districts. But the university is going to give her a note taker and let her sit at the front of all the classes in priority seating. If that's not enough, the instructor can wear a mic and Brittany can wear a headset that will help her focus on what the teacher is saying and block out the noise from the room."

"The second day we were there, I took a bunch of tests – a regular IQ test, another type of IQ test, and a really long math test. When we go back in the fall, the advisor is going to make appointments for me to see other people and take some more tests. I'm just going to take required classes that everyone takes plus two dance classes in the fall. And whatever math class they put me in."

Chandler said, "That sounds like the best plan. They seem to be determined to help you find something suited to your skills, which is good."

Brittany got up off the chaise and pulled Kurt to standing. She wrapped her arms around him. "No excuses. We're all swimming."

He hugged her back. "You've convinced me. Let's go." He took her hand and moved to the edge and jumped in with her.

"If I didn't know she was with you, I'd be convinced she was trying to get him back."

"So you know about them?"

"Yeah, he told me." He got up and moved to the edge of the pool.

"Her one wish in life that isn't something big like world peace would be for Kurt to be bisexual like her. She loves him and I'm okay with that. He's always been good to her and he would never hurt her. Hell, he's been better to her than I've been. She deserves someone like him, but I'm trying. I've let a lot of the anger go."

"That's good. I'm not sure what you were so angry about, but whatever it was I'm glad you're able to let some of it go. Anger really destroys people from the inside out." He paused. "Wait. You weren't out last fall, were you?"

"Nope. My abuela still isn't speaking to me. The rest of my family took it okay, but it's still a little tense with some of them. The anger didn't come from that. I've been in love with her since I'm not even sure. We were probably 15. She was willing. She had no fear about people knowing she's bi or losing her popularity or anything. It was me. I watched her go out with guys for years when I could have had her to myself. I lied to her and myself. And I hated myself. I took it out on other people."

Chandler nodded in understanding, but let her go on.

"Don't be like I was to Britt or you-know-who was to Kurt."

"Definitely not. I know when I have a good thing. Even if your girlfriend is all over my boyfriend." He looked over at the two of them playing Marco Polo. Brittany was hanging onto Kurt with her arms around his neck after he found her.

"You're in love with him."

"I am."

"Well, hot damn. Where are you going to school?"

"NYU."

"So, you're at least going to be in the same city."

"Yeah. I'll be right back." He slipped into the pool and called out, "Marco".

Kurt turned towards his voice instantly. Chandler didn't move, so Kurt found him really quickly. He opened his eyes and kissed him.

"You got in finally."

"I did." He spoke quietly. "Is it okay to tell them that were living together in New York?"

"Sure. I know I kept everything from everyone before school got out, but not anymore."

A huge smile spread across his face. "Okay." He kissed Kurt again. "I'm going to go back and watch you and Brittany chase each other around."

"Come chase me with her?"

"In a few minutes."

Kurt closed his eyes swam off towards where he could hear Brittany calling from.

Chandler pulled himself up out of the pool and sat back next to Santana. "Kurt and I are moving in together in New York. We got a place in the Garment District, which is close to his school and to Broadway. I'll have a commute to school, but it's fine."

"Moving in together. Wow."

"We talked about it a lot. The dorms didn't appeal to either of us, especially Kurt after what the bullies at McKinley put him through. And the only way that we could afford to live on our own would be in one of those small 80sq ft places that are basically an 8'x10' room with nothing in them and a bathroom on each floor that everyone shares."

"Gross, unless management actually cleans it every day. And only one? You'd have to wait in line to use it and never be able to plan." She turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "And this way, you can at least sleep together every night."

"Exactly."

"She says he's the best kisser out of all the boys she's kissed, so you're a lucky guy."

"I know I am. I bet she says that because since she was the first person he kissed, he was probably slow and gentle and sweet and not at all rushing her like a lot guys probably did. He probably talked to her and made her feel special."

"Probably. He's probably the only guy she really trusts. We were all horrible to him. Well, not Britt, but a lot of the rest of us, even those of us he considered to be friends. I've got three months to transform myself from hateful high school bitch into a respectable college student. There's no HBIC with 20,000 students there. Plus, I'm ready to have friends, not just frenemies. I need to be the best me. Putting people down to push myself to the top as always been my M.O., but that's not what I want anymore."

"Well, saying it out loud is a good start. I think you have to figure out if there's anything that you actually enjoy and then start to spend time doing it. You'll meet other people that enjoy the same activity."

"I like sex."

Chandler about choked. "Okay, well, you and Brittany will have to work that one out. Surely, there's something else."

"Singing, dancing, looking good..."

"That's a start. Maybe the school has an art department. You could see if they hire models. You could see if they do any type of fashion show and try to be a part of that as a model. You could audition for a musical. Even if you just went for a chorus part, it would give you something to be a part of. Dance classes. Maybe a campus choir or some type of performing group?"

"I'll see." She turned her focus back towards the pool. "Hey, Kurt!"

He turned. "Yeah?"

"I need you to take us shopping. We've worn Cheerios outfits for so long our wardrobes are not suitable for college. All I mostly have are workout clothes and short tight dresses."

"Weekday or weekend?"

"Doesn't matter."

"I'll let you know in a day or two. I'll have to rearrange some hours at the shop. I'm trying to work as much as I can to save up for New York."

"Me and Britt are going to come visit at some point."

"We'll need to plan, but sure. We're getting a sofa bed, so we can host people easily."

Santana got up and grabbed the volleyball net. Chandler helped her put it up. He slipped into the pool and swam over to Kurt.

He pecked him on the lips. "What are our chances of being the two of them?"

"Somewhere around zero. They're both really athletic and swim more than we do."

"Are you saying I'm not athletic?" he teased. He flexed his biceps.

Brittany wolf whistled. "Nice arms, Chandler."

He turned and tipped an imaginary hat, "Thank you."

Kurt said, "I'm just going on past experience. They've beaten all of the other guys they've played, and they were mostly all jocks."

"Well, we'll just have to change that, won't we?" He moved over to the other side of the pool.

Santana hit the ball over the net and they hit it back. They went back for forth several times before Brittany knocked it out of the pool.

"One point for us," Chandler said, with a bit of bravado to his voice.

They played for 15 minutes and Kurt and Chandler were up by three points. Five minutes later they were up by five.

"Ready to call it a game?" Kurt asked.

"You can't tell anyone you beat us," Santana said. "I'm ready to eat, but I'm not willing to concede defeat."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I've figured out how you beat all of the rest of the guys."

"And how's that?"

"They're distracted by two beautiful girls in bikinis and can't keep their focus on the beach ball."

"It's worked all these years," Santana blew him a kiss. "And now we lost to two gay boys. Let's eat. I'm hungry."

Brittany climbed out, dried off a little, and went inside and grabbed hot dogs and a pack of hot dog buns. Santana got out, wrapped herself in a towel, and turned the electric grill on to heat it up. Brittany went back in and grabbed the ketchup and mustard. Kurt and Chandler followed her inside to bring the chips, salsa, veggie tray, and plates out. Santana put the hot dogs on while everyone else grabbed everything else they needed and set the table. As soon as they were done, she put them on a plate and put them on the table. Everyone served themselves and started to eat.

Brittany said, "I want to know about the places you went to see. Are the pandas as cool as they seem? I really want to go see them sometime."

"They are," Chandler said. "The zoo is really nice. You'd like it."

"DC is only a 4-hour drive from New York. You could fly in to stay with us for a few days, rent a car and drive to DC and stay for a few days and drive back, if you have a full week of for fall break."

Santana said, "I haven't even really looked at the calendar carefully. I just know the semester is a little shorter than high school because we get three weeks off at Christmas and we start later and end sooner next spring. I think something like that would have to wait for winter break or spring break. Or if we could manage to figure out a way to do it before school starts that would probably work even better."

"When are you leaving?" Brittany asked.

Chandler answered, "We haven't set the exact date – between two and a half and three weeks. We have to work out some details. Technically we can move in July 1st."

"I didn't know it would be so soon," she replied.

Kurt said, "That's when the flat was available. We didn't want to lose it because it was the best deal we found. It's small, but it has a separate bedroom and living room area."

Santana said, "Chandler told me that a lot of the places are basically like hotel rooms with a 3-foot kitchen space or none at all. A lot of them didn't even have bathrooms in the unit. They had a shared bathroom on each floor."

Kurt nodded. "Yeah, a lot of them were like that."

Brittany said, "What if you have to go in the middle of the night? It's like modern version of an outhouse. You have to get up and get dressed."

Santana continued, "And find your keys to lock your door behind you. Yeah, no. No way. Sounds like a set up for a horror story."

"My thoughts exactly. The place we found is really nice. It's been redone and the landlord is letting us put in two closets. It's at our cost, but we'd have to buy wardrobes or clothes racks anyway. We're planning to stay through college and longer if things work out and we can get jobs in New York. It's in a good location."

"I'm actually glad we get to stay in the dorms for four years. We're going to be busy enough as it is practicing and cheering for games on top of our schoolwork to even consider having to go home and prepare meals or pack them every day. Our scholarships cover our dorm costs."

Kurt said, "That's a really good deal. The meal plans are really expensive at our schools. If we both stayed in the dorms at our schools, we'd end up spending $10,000 more per year and only have some place to live for nine months out of the year. And the additional cost over what we're spending is because we'd have to get meal plans since the dorms don't have kitchens. I just don't see the two of us spending nearly $800 a month on food. Even if we do, we'll still have some place to live year round and we won't have to sublease some place every summer to stay in the City."

Brittany said, "I made brownies. And I even got cherry ice cream to go with them. We can eat them later when we watch the movie."

"Sounds good to me," Chandler said. "Are you two going to be able to go with us Friday evening?"

"Yep," Brittany said. "My mom told me that once I graduated, I could do whatever I wanted to, except throw parties and wake them up. My sister's at camp and won't be back until next weekend."

"So, we're going to stay at the criminal chipmunk's place?"

Kurt bristled. "You can't call him that anymore. He apologized and he quit acting like that. He didn't mean for Blaine to get hurt. He meant to slushie my outfit. And he's hardly the first person to slushie my clothes and none of them ever apologized, except for Dave."

"Fine, fine. I'll be nice. It will be my first attempt at the new nicer me. We'll see if I can manage to make it through an evening without insulting him."

"Please try," Kurt said. "This might be the last evening we get to spend with them. They're going back to France the last week in June. All of their friends there get July and August off."

"How about this? If I can't be nice, Britt and I will just stay away from him."

Kurt shrugged. "Sure, but I think you'll be surprised. He's not the 1-dimensional cheesy high school movie villain. He's actually really nice." He raised his eyebrow and gave her a low level 'bitch please' look. "And you don't have much room for pointing fingers. We're here and I'm giving you a chance."

"Touché. I like the return of the bitchiness. It suits you. Doormat wasn't a good look on you."

"I've dialed down ice king because I'm not trying to keep my guard up all the time now, but I agree that doormat is definitely NOT returning." He thought for a minute. "How about Saturday? Sebastian has a family event he's going to, so we were all leaving after breakfast anyway. We could go to one of the outlet malls either up by Westerville or down in Cincinnati."

"That would work," Santana said. "We'll just bring something to wear on Saturday that's easy to change in and out of. We'll check out the stores at both outlet places and make a decision tomorrow."

"Works for me."

"We need to find some good walking shoes, probably first, so we have some idea what kind of clothes will look good with them. Our feet were killing us the two days we were there."

Chandler said, "We're all going to have to get used to walking so much. We're all used to jumping in a car and driving somewhere. We got a taste of it in DC with walking to the Metro and then again once we got off."

"There were buses, but we still walked a lot," Brittany said. She looked around and everyone had quit eating and there wasn't much of anything left. "Eat the rest of those veggies, someone. That's all that's left."

Everyone grabbed a couple and put them in their mouths and helped carry the trash inside. They went back out and got back in the pool to swim for a while before the movie.

* * *

Kurt went inside after Chandler dropped him off and found Burt and Carole sitting in the living room. Carole got up and went to the top of the stairs to the basement and called for Finn. When he came up he plopped down in the chair closest to the fireplace. Kurt had already taken the other one.

"What's up?" Kurt asked.

"Well, we agreed to let you go to see Sebastian and Adrien Friday, so we wanted to talk to you since we won't be having a family dinner on Friday. We needed to talk to you before then anyway," Burt said.

Carole started, "Burt and I have been talking about our living situation. This house has been great for the last year and a half, but with Kurt moving to New York and with Burt and I spending more time in DC, it makes sense for us to cut our costs by moving into a smaller place. Half of the time from now on, it will just be Finn here in Lima. We've been looking at places for a couple of weeks, but we've finally found a couple and we'd like you two to go with us tomorrow to look at them." She looked at Kurt. "Don't worry, I scheduled the viewings based on your work schedule tomorrow."

"That's fine," Kurt said.

They finished discussing the arrangements before Kurt went upstairs.

* * *

After viewing the two houses Wednesday morning, the four of them went out for lunch before Kurt and Burt went to the shop to work for the afternoon. Kurt changed and started pulling out the tools he needed to work on the first car on his list.

Burt walked up. "You're sure you're okay with us getting the place with the apartment up above the garage and most of the upstairs?"

"I actually think it's perfect. It's obviously been remodeled, but it was done well. The one bedroom that’s still upstairs in the main house has its own bathroom, even though it's across the hall. It could be remodeled easily by turning the hallway into a closet and moving the doors around, but unless we're coming to visit for a long period of time, having the bathroom where it is and the small closet should be fine. I think it's the perfect solution. You can put an alarm on the lower level and you won't have to worry about any new friends that Finn might make snooping around. He can have people over whenever he wants. Most of the noise from people walking around will be over the garage. And his bedroom is over the dining room. The small kitchen up there fits his cooking level, which is mostly just heating food up in the oven or the microwave. He does have two burners to make mac and cheese and spaghetti on. That place is like him getting his own apartment without you and Carole having to pay rent on a place for him. A place that size would be at least $600, plus the utilities. This will save you on your mortgage payment, plus Finn lives basically on his own at no cost to anyone."

"Alright. I'm going to call the realtor and go ahead and put in our offer and list our place."

Before Kurt managed to get started, his phone rang.

"How did it go?"

"We found the perfect place. Dad's putting the offer in now. I took some pictures of the inside. We can go over there after we get off later."

"That was fast."

"It was. I have to get started on this car. I'll see you later. I love you."

"I love you too. I'll pick you up when I get off."


	19. Chapter 19

By the time Friday evening rolled around, three more people had been added to their trip to the club in Columbus – Finn, Puck, and Janine.

When Kurt was loading his overnight bag in the Navigator, Finn and Puck came out with their bags.

"You're sure you want to do this? You're both risking getting hit on by gay guys. You can't make a scene or a big deal about it."

"You said there'll be girls there. I'm good. I like girls, straight or bi makes no difference to me. And we're taking Janine. Finn will be fine." Puck winked at Finn.

"We're not dating."

"Yet," Puck added.

Kurt said, "And you know we're going shopping tomorrow. You heard that part, right?"

"Yep," Puck answered. "I need a new wardrobe. You can help me with that. I want to look good, but edgy still. I'm not ready to dress like I'm working in an office or something, but I want to look nicer."

"I can do that," Kurt said.

"Nothing preppy."

"Of course not. What do you take me for? An amateur?"

Puck rolled his eyes.

Janine pulled up into the driveway. She and Chandler got out and put their stuff in the back.

Maribel pulled up and dropped Santana and Brittany off just a couple of minutes later. She rolled down the passenger window and called out, "Have fun, you guys!" She waved as she drove off.

"Alright," Kurt said. "Santana and Britt, back row. Chandler is with me up front. Let's go."

Once they were in, Kurt asked, "Where's your car, Santana?"

"At your dad's shop. The A/C isn't working. I figured today was a good day to leave it there to get it fixed since I wouldn't need it tomorrow."

Kurt pulled out and they headed to Sebastian's place where they were going to get ready and leave their stuff before they headed to the club.

* * *

Santana, Adrien, and Kurt caught the line attendant's eye and he pulled them and the rest of the group out of the line and up to the front. After showing their ID, they paid the cover charge. Kurt, Chandler, Finn, and Janine put the black "under 21" bracelets on that they were given since they were the only ones to use their real IDs. Everyone else was given a lavender bracelet.

Sebastian led the group around until they found a booth they could use as their base for the evening. Brittany slid in next to Kurt and Chandler while everyone else headed up to the bar.

"How does Sebastian know Travis?"

Kurt blanked out, clueless.

Chandler leaned around Kurt to answer her. "He just looks like Travis. His name is Adrien. He's French."

"Oh. I think the guy who let us cut the line thinks he's Travis too."

Kurt said, "Could be. He does look very similar, but Sebastian's known him since they were seven, so I'm sure that he's not Travis."

"Add-ree-in? Is that what you said his name is, Chandler?"

"Yes, with the emphasis on the ADD part. ADD-ree-in."

"Thanks." She repeated it to herself several times. "Let's go dance." She grabbed Kurt's hand and pulled him towards the dance floor.

Kurt looked back at Chandler who had a big smile on his face and waved as Kurt was pulled away.

Brittany wrapped her arms around Kurt's shoulders and pulled him close. "This place is nice. Everyone is dancing with whoever they want to. And no one's being mean about it if it's two guys or two girls."

"That's why we invited you and Santana, so you could dance together and have a good time."

By the time they'd dance to a second song, everyone was back from the bar and was back at their table. Kurt and Brittany followed them. Kurt slid back in next to Chandler and Brittany followed him. Santana squished in on the end next to Brittany.

Sebastian spoke first. "Just to make sure that Finn and Puck are aware, there will be guys making out in the bathroom. Just do your business and ignore them. I've never been in the ladies room, but I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the same thing is going on in there. If anyone concerned about it, take someone from our group with you. People are drinking. Everyone is fair game to get hit on by anyone here. If you're not interested, just say so politely. Most people will just walk off and look for someone else."

Finn asked Janine to dance. Puck followed them out onto the dance floor to look for someone to dance with.

"Santana, will you dance with me?" Sebastian asked. He slid out of the booth and offered her his hand. He walked them to the quietest part of the club so she could hear what he had to say. "I want to apologize again. I know I did back in March, but I know you didn't believe me back then. I wouldn't have believed me either. What I did was just stupid. Like I said that day – a lame prank that got way out of hand. And then instead of just letting it go, I doubled down to save face. Not cool. You were great when we sang together. Anyway, I don't know how much it cost you to have your outfit cleaned, but I've saved up $100 since then to give you to cover as much of it as possible. I'd give you more, but I don't have it. I know I made everyone think that I'm rich and I can do whatever I want, but my dad isn't big on just handing out money. I get $100 a month and I have to pay for any extra gas that's not for driving between his house and Dalton and anything I do outside of school. I used to get $200, but my dad's been docking my allowance $100 a month until I repay him the money that Mr. Anderson demanded to cover the out-of-pocket expenses for Blaine's medical costs. $500 down with about $2500 to go. I have to get a job in Paris when we get there. I'll give it to you later when we get back to my place. You can use it when you go shopping tomorrow with Kurt."

"He said that I should give you a chance. I hate it when he's right." She rolled her eyes.

"He's right a lot of the time. It's an annoying trait of his."

"That and being forgiving."

Sebastian nodded. "That too. But honestly, I really am sorry."

They danced without talking for a while.

"You're a great dancer."

"You're not so shabby yourself. Don't you have a trust fund or something you can use?"

"Ah, the mythical trust fund," he joked. "I'll get my trust fund when I turn 25. The idea is that it will help me get started in my professional life, not pay off debts from being a stupid teenager. My dad wants repaid for that before I graduate from high school, so he's garnishing my allowance. I get my trust fund after I graduate from law school and it's not millions of dollars like a lot of people seem to think. My dad is the state's attorney, which is a political position and pays less than half of what Kurt's dad makes being a congressman. He's maintained his position at his law firm in name only. He doesn't practice privately right now. If he ever loses an election, he'll go back to private work. So, while it's true that he can afford to send me to Dalton, he not a multi-millionaire or anything."

"Well, kudos to you for pulling of the trust fund baby jackass shtick really well. You had all of us fooled."

"A compliment on my acting skills. I'll take it."

Santana rolled her eyes.

"You're actually a really good actress. You were really amazing in _West Side Story_."

"I know." She winked at him.

* * *

Brittany followed them to the dance floor, taking Adrien's hand. They danced far enough away to give them a little privacy.

"So how did Kurt and Sebastian meet up again?"

"They were both at Dalton watching the baseball game. Chandler and I both play baseball."

"Is baseball popular in France? That's where Kurt said you're from."

"Actually, it's not popular at all. I played cricket in Paris."

"Is that a game? Why is it named after a bug?"

"I honestly have no idea about the name. It's a sport that uses bats and balls, but the rules are completely different than baseball. It's not played here as far as I know. I wanted to play a spring sport, so I tried out and made the baseball team. I played soccer last fall. I'm not going to play either one next year. I'm going to join the Warblers like Sebastian."

"Me and Santana are cheerleaders. We're going to college in the fall."

"Sebastian and I will be seniors in the fall."

"If you're from France, why don't you have an accent? We had an exchange student from Ireland living with us this year and I could barely understand him."

"Well, when Sebastian moved in next door, he and I were both 7. My grandma doesn't speak English and neither does his. We thought it would be fun if we could have a secret language where they couldn't understand us. He started to teach me, and then I started studying it in school when I was 8."

"So, you lived with your grandma?"

"Yes and my grandpa, but he worked during the day back then. He eventually retired, but he died last year. Sebastian and his mom moved in with his grandparents, but his grandpa was sick and he died not long after they moved in. Our grandmas are best friends."

"That's cool."

"It is. When Sebastian and I go back to France after our senior year, we'll be moving into my grandparents place. We're helping my grandma move in with Sebastian's grandma and mom this summer because she's been taking care of both of them and it will be easier if they're all living together. Their place has three smaller bedrooms and ours has two larger ones. We'll be moving furniture around and helping them reorganize everything while we're there."

"So you're going to college in France?"

"That's the plan."

As the song ended, Brittany moved closer to Santana, but she didn't cut in until the end of the song. They traded partners and went back to dancing as the next song started.

* * *

When Brittany took Adrien out to the dance floor, Kurt and Chandler were left sitting at the table alone. They didn't say anything for several minutes. Kurt was staring out into the crowd of people dancing. When the song changed, Chandler squeezed his hand under the table. Kurt turned to look at him and Chandler leaned forward and kissed him. He scooted even closer to Kurt.

"What's got you so pensive?"

"It's this weird nostalgic feeling for what could have been. Santana is out there proudly dancing with Brittany, no hint of uncertainty in the look on her face."

Chandler looked towards where Kurt was looking and nodded.

"Finn is in a LGBT friendly club, not freaking out at about how a bunch of the guys in here probably find him attractive enough to hit on him. He and Puck are actually here _with_ me when they repeatedly tossed me in dumpsters not quite three years ago. David had wanted to come, but he and his dad are leaving Sunday morning to drive out to Oregon, so they're busy this weekend. He said they were having a huge yard sale and packing up what little they're taking with them. His parents' divorce was finalized and the house sold. I guess the yard sale is part of the last bit of dividing their assets. His dad got a position at a local college in Eugene starting next fall, so they decided to drive cross-country for the next month, stopping along the way to see the sights. He didn't give me any other details, but he seemed excited about it in the email I got last night."

"That sounds cool."

"And then there's you." Kurt leaned in and kissed him. "Sometimes I wonder how things would have been different if we had met sooner."

"I wonder that too sometimes, but I'm glad we're together now."

"Me too. I just look back at the strife and in-fighting and actual physical fights between Finn and Puck and all of the nonsense, like the cheating, and I just think what a waste of time so much of it was. I know it had to do with immaturity and being teenagers, but I see us here tonight and I just can't help but think that with some better adult guidance that a lot of that stuff could have been dealt with in more suitable ways."

"I think you're right. All of the stuff you've told me about is beyond insane. And I'm sure it's nearly impossible not to look back on it and be upset by it."

"But it's over now. And honestly, it's just so weird. I think it's the combination of the music and the lights and seeing them here. It's giving me this weird dreamscape vibe – like all of that other stuff never happened. But I know it did. I want to just forget it and move on, but that feels disorienting too. Moving to New York in a couple of weeks will change everything. So much of what has been central in my life just won't be there. And there will be new obstacles, new people who don't like me, and some new people who hopefully will. I'm in the 'in between'. I've idealized New York City for so long, but I've only been there for a couple of days. It's exciting and scary."

"I'm in that same place. I've wanted to live in New York for so long, but I've never even been there. It is exciting and scary, but we're going together, so that's going to make it so much less scary and all the more exciting."

"You're right. You're absolutely right." He turned a bit and wrapped his hand behind Chandler's neck and pulled him closer and kissed him passionately.

"Wanky," Santana said, as she and Brittany sat back down.

Kurt turned and looked at her. "You know we're the only couple that hasn't had a chance to dance together yet. Why don't you to man the table for a bit and we'll take our kissing out on the dance floor?"

"I don't think we can man the table, but we can sit here and keep anyone else from taking it," Brittany agreed.

"Thanks, Britt," Kurt said. "That's perfect."

* * *

Everyone except Kurt packed the air mattresses up and loaded the Navigator the next morning, giving him time to talk to Sebastian.

Kurt went into the kitchen where Sebastian was making breakfast for himself, Adrien, and his dad, who hadn't come down yet. "Thanks for letting all of us crash here."

"No problem. You brought everything you needed," Sebastian said. "We'll be back the week school starts, but we'll plan our trip to New York as soon as I can get the fall school schedule."

"Sounds like a good plan. I know you have to work and you're moving furniture and all of that, but I'm sure you'll enjoy you're the rest of your summer. Some day, I'm going to save up enough money to go to France. It may take ten years, but it will happen some day."

"Hopefully less than ten. You can stay with us, so that will cut down on your cost. You just need to save up for the plane tickets."

Kurt stepped closer and opened his arms, offering Sebastian a hug. He half rolled his eyes and stepped into the hug. As they let go, Adrien came in.

"Everything's loaded up."

"Thanks." Kurt stepped towards him and offered him a hug as well. When he let go, he said, "We'll see you when you come to New York in the fall." He walked towards the front door. "Enjoy your time in France."

"We will. See you this fall," Adrien said, walking towards the door with Sebastian following behind.

They waved as Kurt pulled out onto the street.

* * *

Kurt stopped at quite a few second-hand shops on their way to the outlet mall in Cincinnati. Janine helped Brittany discover her boho chic style and she chose several flowing floral and patterned skirts, ranging in length from just above the knee to a few inches above the ankle. Puck lucked into a really nice deep brown full-leather bomber jacket that fit him like a second skin and a few pairs of jeans that fit well. Santana found a variety of items that didn't fit any particular style overall, but she loved. Given Finn's height, he hadn't found any clothing, but he had picked up a couple of '80s CDs.

He and Kurt went in on a soft brown vintage leather satchel with a long strap to wear it cross-body that was in excellent condition and matched Carole's wardrobe and style and a set of Mellencamp CDs to give to Burt and Carole for their joint Mother's and Father's Day they were planning to celebrate the following Sunday when they would both be back in town.

When they got to the outlet mall, Kurt parked near the area that had the restaurants. They couldn't come to a consensus on where to eat as a group, so they broke up into smaller groups and met back up after they had finished eating.

They spent the whole afternoon making their way through the stores and picking out what they needed. They headed back to Lima about dinnertime. They stopped outside of Cincinnati and picked up pizzas and ate them before they drove the rest of the way back.

When they got back, Janine offered to drop Brittany and Santana off on her way home. Finn went in the house long enough to drop off his new clothes and grab a change of clothes and some snacks. He was back outside and hopped into Puck's truck and left for a gaming night before Kurt and Chandler had managed to get the Navigator emptied and locked up. With Finn gone, that left Kurt and Chandler alone for the night.

* * *

"Let's shower before we do anything else," Kurt suggested.

"Sure. You go ahead first. I'll start taking the tags off of the stuff we bought."

Kurt had finished with his moisturizing by the time Chandler finished showering. He got up and moved to the end of the bed and looked at the things they had gotten – several pairs of knee-length shorts in dark solid colors, four pairs of jeans, and a stack of vintage graphic tees in warm colors that they had picked up from their various stops at secondhand stores.

Chandler came out of the closet after dropping his dirty clothes into Kurt's laundry basket. He walked to the end of the bed and stood next to Kurt. "What brought on the urge to buy jeans, shorts, and vintage tees and tanks?"

Kurt turned and faced Chandler and wrapped his arms around his waist and kissed him. "Honestly, I just decided that I wanted us to have clothes to go horse around in and to hang around the house in that weren't just pajama pants like we're wearing now. I've always been on edge and so guarded and I thought that now might be a good time to try something new. Plus, all of those clothes have lasted through years of being washed with no special care. I just wanted some easy-to-care-for clothes that could be washed all together in a single load and then dried. I got a few things earlier this spring." He kissed Chandler. "And I think it mostly has to do with you and your influence."

Chandler looked confused since he wasn't known for dressing casually.

Kurt kissed him again. "It's not an imitation of the way you dress, but it's the feeling I get being with you. I don't have to be 'on' all the time now. I don't want that feeling of not being able to sit in your lap or you sit in mine or give up snuggling on the couch or in bed because I'm wearing clothes that I don't want wrinkled. Even though I'm going to give fashion design a shot and I love it – it's a ridiculous field. What I want an authentic life with you where we go to the beach and go hiking and whatever we want because we can. And I don't want to spend any of my time wondering whether I should participate in something because I'm wearing $300 pants or whatever. And sometimes I just want to blend in. I'm not sure that makes any sense."

"It does."

"Ever since forever, being gay has been my defining quality here in Lima. It's been the thing that people picked up on before I even knew a word for it myself. I stuck out. I chose clothing that other boys my age made fun of, but I've also used clothing as a shield for years. I do love the way I dress, but it also provided a bright and shiny shield for the bullies to attack. I put myself out on display and no one could ever accuse me of being a sneaky gay. I was doing the opposite of blending in. I already stuck out, so I decided to stick out in a way that I could control. They lobbed their insults at my clothing and in a stupid-weird way, it sort of helped the words bounce off a bit. Like they weren't attacking me personally. It's stupid. I know."

"It's not stupid."

"But now, we're moving on. I'd like to be known for other things. I don't want being gay to be my defining quality. I'd rather someone say, 'Oh, look there's that guy that designs really cool clothes.' Or 'There's that guy with the great voice.' Or 'There's that guy who always brightens my day by dropping a dollar in my violin case.' Anyway, I got the clothes for both of us. We wear the same size. I just want them to be clothes. We'll just put on an outfit and be ourselves. I want us to cook, clean, play, and relax in them. I'm not sure that even makes any sense."

"It all makes sense. I'm really glad that you're 'you' with me. I happen to like the real you quite a lot." He slipped his hands up under Kurt's shirt in the back and caressed Kurt's skin.

Kurt relaxed into his hold even more. "I love you. Do you want to share a bowl of ice cream while we design our new closets?"

"Yes." Chandler gave him a squeeze before he let go. "I'll grab this stuff and you can grab the basket in the closet. We'll wash clothes and design the best way to store them."

* * *

Sunday morning after breakfast, Kurt and Chandler met up with Rex to go over the plans they had made for the closets, to design a bed frame together, and to get his help in repairing Kurt's mother's dresser. He wanted to take it with them to New York and use it as their TV stand. It had been in storage since they moved into the new house. Kurt and Chandler carefully loaded it into the back of the Navigator. Kurt went back in for the dresser drawer from his room that he needed to take with him as well.

When they got to Rex's place, he was standing in his driveway waiting for them. He pointed to where they needed to park. Kurt pulled past the house – in front of a detached 2-car garage and parked. The two of them got the dresser back out and carried into the workshop.

Rex carefully inspected it before he said anything. "I can make a leg identical to the one that's not broken. I'll need to do a little work to the underneath and add some support pieces. It won't be visible. It's the only way I'll be able to get the new leg on in the right position since the damage goes up into the wood right here." He pointed to a cracked section. "I'd also suggest that you let me do just a little wood care to protect the wood."

Kurt nodded. "That's fine. You're sure that you can fix it?"

"I'm sure. You said you were thinking of using it as a TV stand, right?"

"Right."

"Would you have a problem with me making three matching legs and putting one in the center, both front and back? That will support the weight whatever you put in the drawers, plus the weight of the TV and whatever else you put on top."

"You can make all of the legs match the color and everything?"

"I can. What I'll do is put the three new legs on the front and move the other one to the middle in the back."

"Sure, if you think it will make it more sturdy without detracting from the look of the dresser."

"The dresser is really lightweight. I think the support underneath and the extra support legs will make it a lot sturdier and extend its life pretty much indefinitely."

"Sounds perfect."

"You can set up your laptop over there at the island workstation with the stools. Chandler can help me move the dresser over to where I need it."

Kurt and Chandler spent the next few hours learning about power tools and working on cutting the pieces for their bed frame. Once the pieces were cut and drilled to fit together, Rex followed them to the hardware store to get the right color of stain to make the bed frame and headboard that was yet to be built the same color as Kurt's dresser. They also bought the carriage bolts and the rest of the hardware they needed to assemble the bed frame.

Afterwards, Kurt dropped Chandler off at his house to have lunch and spend the day with his dad and the rest of his family for Father's Day.

* * *

Monday, Kurt left for the morning so the realtor could show the house. While he was out he picked up boxes, some bubble wrap, and tape. When he came back, the realtor called and told him that the family had made an offer.

Kurt called Carole. She cut her visit to DC short and took a flight out Tuesday morning. The offer was accepted and the sale went into high speed since the house that the Hummels wanted to buy was already empty with no waiting period to move in.

Over the next week, Kurt and Chandler went through their rooms and packed up what they were taking with them to New York. Since they were renting a U-Haul, they decided they should take their winter items with them, as well as anything they wanted to decorate with that they already owned.

Kurt didn't plan to leave much behind since the guest room in the new house was smaller than his current room and didn't have built-in shelving. The closet was also quite small, leaving enough room to hang clothes he'd bring with him, but not enough to leave much of anything stored in it.

They both made trips to Rex's house several days to work on the bed frame and headboard. When they went on Thursday, Rex had finished Kurt's mom's dresser. When they walked in, Kurt was amazed at how good it looked. He wiped a few stray tears from his eyes. He thanked Rex. Kurt and Chandler put the final coat of sealer on the bed frame and headboard while they were there.

Chandler went to work and Kurt went back home to help Carole prepare for the yard sale that she decided they needed to have. They also separated the items in the kitchen into three groups – Kurt, Finn, and the main kitchen in the new house.

Burt came home Friday evening. He worked his way through what was in the garage, setting aside things to put in the sale and blocked off the area where what he wanted to keep was stored, mostly in storage totes. They set up for the garage sale inside in case of rain.

By Saturday evening, everyone was pretty worn out. Finn and Kurt packed up what didn't sell and checked it over as they packed it up to make sure none of it was broken, and then loaded it in Finn's truck for him to take to Goodwill.

* * *

Sunday morning, Kurt and Finn made Burt and Carole a nice breakfast for their belated Mother's and Father's Day celebration. Kurt gave Finn the job of making the fruit salad while he cooked turkey sausages, blueberry pancakes, and made the blueberry pancake syrup.

They all sat down to breakfast together for the first meal they had eaten together as a family in a little over two weeks. Once they finished eating, Kurt brought their gifts in from the living room where he had stashed them.

Burt unwrapped the box Kurt put in front of him. "Oh, wow. These are great." He rifled through the stack of CDs. "You said you could transfer CDs to my phone, right?"

"I can," Kurt said. "But look in the box again."

Burt found a smaller object wrapped in tissue paper and took it out. "I recognize this. I got this for you years ago."

"You did get me one, just not that one. I'm still using mine and the newer one you got me that holds 160gb. That one just holds 8gb, but it's plenty of space for those CDs. I already put them on it. This way you can get a speaker dock that charges it for your place in DC. And when you listen to it on the subway or whenever, it won't use your phone battery or risk someone grabbing your phone. You'll need to get some headphones that you like. You can listen to the CDs in your truck when you're home."

"Well, I will enjoy all of this. Thanks a lot, you two."

"You're welcome," Kurt and Finn said in unison.

"So, I guess that makes it my turn." Carole unwrapped the stack of puzzle magazines that Finn had found the previous night when he dropped the garage sale leftovers at Goodwill. "Well, these will keep me busy." She smiled up and looked at the two of them. "Thanks." She moved on to the next package. "Oh, my. This is gorgeous." She ran her hand across the leather. "It's so soft."

Finn said, "The magazines fit in it. It's got lots of pockets too and a super long strap so you can wear it over your shoulder. It's for you to use when you go back and forth to DC."

Kurt smiled at Finn realizing how much he had paid attention when Kurt was pointing out why the bag was a good choice.

Carole smiled at Finn and nodded, and then turned and smiled at Kurt, knowing where Finn had gotten the information. She opened it up and looked inside. "It does have a lot of nice pockets. I can organize everything I usually take with me. And I like that I can keep it on when I sit down. I'm always afraid I'll fall asleep while I'm waiting to board and someone will steal my cloth shoulder bag that I usually take."

"I polished it and treated it to be waterproof. That way if you get caught in the rain, it won't hurt the leather," Kurt said.

"Well, thank you both." She slipped the magazines inside, stood up, and slipped the strap over her shoulder. She adjusted the length a little. "It's perfect. The bag itself isn't heavy, which is nice. This will be great. I'll work on getting it all organized before I fly out the next time."

"You guys did good," Burt said. "Thanks. And breakfast was really good too. We'll let you two clean up as well. We're going to go back to boxing up stuff. I've rented a U-Haul for Thursday and Friday. See if you can get Puck over to help us move some stuff, will you, Finn? I have to fly back tonight and I won't be back until Friday night."

"Oh, yeah, sure."

"Chandler will help too. I'm sure," Kurt offered. "Maybe even Janine."

Finn's eyes perked up.

"That would be great," Burt said. "The new owners get possession on Saturday at noon, so we can't have anything left in here by then."

"We'll get everything over to the new place," Finn assured him.

Kurt finished the dishes with Finn before they left to pick up the bed frame pieces and the dresser from Rex's house. Since the garage had been cleaned out the evening before, they had room to put everything on one side of the garage.

"It seems so weird to be moving again," Finn said. "I like the idea of my own place that's still connected to Mom and Burt's. It's like a better in-between than a dorm. I need to do well, not just hang around with a bunch of people horsing around all the time and not doing my work. But since we live so close, I can still do stuff with people in my classes if I want to."

"I think it's perfect. That's what I told Dad. He's helping cover my expenses because living in New York City is insanely expensive. Your apartment is bigger than mine and Chandler's and the rent on our place is going to be a little more than three times as much as Dad and Carole's mortgage payment on the new house. I don't feel as bad now because you're getting your own place too, but it's not costing them extra. You can help with the utilities or take over your car insurance payments and your phone or something. Chandler and I will be covering our utilities, phones, and food. Our parents are paying our tuition and housing. We can do the rest."

"You're right. I hadn't really thought about it. After my insanity of asking Rachel to marry me and then my freak-out of not wanting to get married, I didn't really spend much time thinking about much of anything besides finishing school and Nationals. I should pay half the electricity and half of the water because they'll only be here half of the time. And my phone. I don't even know how much the insurance is on my truck. I'll have to find out. But anyway, you're right. I can't just be a freeloadeder forever. I'm going to go keep packing stuff in my room."

"Thanks for helping me with this."

"Yeah. No problem, dude. Did you finally decide on when you're leaving?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Chandler's family is having a big Fourth of July party at his grandma's place in Dayton. We're going, as in the four of us."

"Awesome."

"We're leaving for New York the next morning."

Finn nodded. "I'm going to go pack more boxes."

* * *

"Hey, handsome," Kurt said, as he got in. He leaned over and kissed Chandler before he put his seatbelt on. "I missed you the last three days." He kissed him again. "I love you."

"Mmm. I love you too."

After he fastened his seatbelt, he reached out for Chandler's hand and interlaced their fingers. "Three months."

"Three fantastic months. I've chosen the Japanese place we got take out from our first meal together."

"Sounds delicious. So how was your trip with your grandparents?"


	20. Chapter 20

Kurt handed Chandler his plate and sat down next to him on the blanket. He kissed Chandler sweetly and took his plate back. "Your family is so much fun."

"I had never really thought about it a lot until I was older and realized that most of the people I knew didn't have the childhood that I did. They are really great. They've always been accepting and supportive. My grandpa would have liked you. He loved the Golden Era musicals. He was a good dancer. He used to take my grandma out dancing frequently. He paid for me to take dance lessons here on the weekends when I was younger. There was just one other boy besides me, but I didn't care. It was fun."

"I went to ballet when I was really young, like three to five. I loved every minute of it."

They both ate what they had on their plates and watched the younger kids run around and play. When they finished, Chandler popped the top on the can of Diet Coke Kurt had brought with him and they split it. Chandler got up and put everything in the trash. When he came back, Kurt was lying on his back with his eyes closed. Chandler lay down next to him and took his hand.

"It's hard to believe that we're leaving in… 40 hours."

Kurt squeezed his hand. "I'm excited."

"Me too."

Burt and Carole came over and unfolded their chairs and sat them alongside their blanket. Carole handed Burt his plate of food after he sat down.

Burt said, "When you said that your grandma threw a big Fourth of July party, you weren't kidding."

"Nope. We do this every year. It's basically a family reunion. At this point, I just consider everyone 25 and under my cousin and don't even bother trying to figure out exactly how they're related."

Burt laughed. "I can see why."

"Thanks for inviting us," Carole said.

"Oh, you're welcome. Finn seems to like the pool."

"That may be something we look into. He's always loved to swim. We could put a pool like that in the back. Maybe next summer."

Kurt said, "I'm sure he'd love it."

"So, what goes on the rest of the day?"

"Well, usually the people who don't enjoy being outside eat and then go back in and play board games and watch movies. Grandma has folding tables set up with games on them in all of the bedrooms."

"Sounds fun," Carole said.

"It is. We'll have dinner about an hour before dark. Usually everyone who's camping out sets their tents up before dinner. Once it's dark, we watch the Dayton fireworks. After that, we set off our own."

Burt said, "I brought some with us. I put them with the others I saw by the back door."

"Perfect," Chandler said. "The people who stay outside play the outdoor games, swim, or just sit around and talk. Everyone's really friendly though, so don't feel weird about just joining a group of people and making yourself at home."

* * *

Before it got dark, Kurt and Chandler set their tent up and put their camping chairs as close together as possible between James and Sharon's and Burt and Carole's, who came over a few minutes after they had everything set up. They brought drinks for everyone and a bowl of popcorn for Kurt and Chandler to share.

After they sat down, Kurt looked around for Finn. He spotted him sitting with Janine and Toby on a blanket near Dina and Tim. He leaned towards Chandler and spoke quietly directly into his ear. "Look to your left."

Chandler scanned the yard in the near darkness. He smiled.

"How long do you think it will take for Janine to lose her patience and just ask him?"

"Should I tell her to? She's been waiting for him to ask her."

"That's not very likely. He's used to being pursued. As far as I know, he's never asked a girl out."

"Oh. I'll be sure to encourage her to be bold." He took advantage of Kurt's proximity and lightly licked the edge of Kurt's ear and kissed down his neck.

Kurt turned towards him and kissed him gently.

Within a couple of minutes the fireworks started.

* * *

Early Thursday afternoon, Kurt finished up the detailing the Navigator. Once he was done with the interior of the windshield, he took everything inside the shop and washed his hands. He went back outside and waited for the Cartwrights to show up. The bank check and the title and keys were exchanged and a few minutes later, Mrs. Cartwright got in the Naviagator, adjusted the seats, and drove out of the parking lot. Kurt walked to the back of the building and sat down on the bench before wiping the tears he had kept from falling during their interaction.

A few minutes later, his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered it. "I'm behind the building."

Chandler came around the back just a minute later. He sat down on the bench next to Kurt and wrapped his arm around him.

"I know it's stupid to be upset about a vehicle."

"It's not stupid. You devoted a whole summer to fixing the engine and making it look brand new in between doing your regular duties at the shop. That's a lot of time and energy to put into something. It makes sense to feel like you're losing something important. I don't have that kind of relationship with my car because I've never done anything to fix it up except helping you change the oil that time." He squeezed Kurt a little and slid his hand up to the back of Kurt's neck and kissed him. "Let's get to the bank and to the U-Haul place."

Kurt nodded.

When they stood up, Kurt wrapped his arms around Chandler and kissed him. "Thanks for being understanding."

"You're welcome. Are you ready?"

"I'm going to go in and splash some water on my face. I'll come out the customer entrance in the front."

"Sure."

A few minutes later, Kurt got in Chandler's car and they went straight to the bank. Kurt deposited the original purchase price plus the parts Burt had bought into Burt's account. He deposited the rest into his own account. When he got back in the car, he handed Chandler a lollipop and popped one into his own mouth.

"Mmm. You found me a pineapple one." He unwrapped it and stuck it in his mouth before he backed out and headed to pick up their U-Haul.

Kurt went in and signed all of the paperwork and came out ten minutes later with the keys to a 10-foot U-Haul. Kurt drove the U-Haul to Chandler's to load his boxes. From there they went to Rex's place to pick up all of the pieces they had worked on for their apartment. Once they finished, they thanked Rex and headed to Lowe's to pick up the closet shelving and all of the fasteners they'd need. By the time they had loaded the stuff in the U-Haul it was getting close to dinnertime. They each headed to their own home for one final dinner with their families before they left.

The Kiehls went to the Hummel's after dinner to help load Kurt's stuff into the U-Haul. After they had gotten everything loaded, they had dessert together. Kurt and Chandler were surprised with their parents gave them a new smart TV. They loaded it in the U-Haul and the Kiehls went home for the evening.

* * *

When Kurt came back inside, Carole was waiting for him in the living room alone.

"Come sit down for a minute, honey."

Kurt sat on the sofa and turned to face her.

"I just want to tell you how proud I am of you. This is a big step you're taking and I know you're ready. I know you're scared too, but you can do this. And you could do it on your own, but you've got Chandler going with you."

"I do. He's just… he's comfortable. I guess I always associated that feeling of being on edge all the time as part of the feeling of being in love. But now I think maybe it's not. Initially, there were those butterfly feelings, but now it just feels calm. Is that normal?"

"Actually, yes. When couples get close and open up, that edgy feeling slips away and it's replaced by a feeling of warmth."

"When he walks into the room, I actually relax. I just feel lighter when he's around, which has come as a pleasant surprise. And it took me a while to open up to him, but he was open from the beginning. He was patient and gave me time to trust him."

"Well, you've told me already that you feel like you can be yourself with him. Even if you hadn't told both of us, we've seen it with our own eyes. That's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually."

"Oh?"

"I just want to offer a bit of unsolicited motherly advice. Be gentle with each other this coming week. You're both going to be doing a lot of things you've never done before. The tone you set will set a precedent for working together. I know you've been working on a lot of the projects together, but someone else more experienced has been around to help smooth the edges of inexperience."

Kurt nodded. "I get it. Neither one of us has done any furniture assembly or building on our own. We've already talked about a lot of things. We've decided how to pay our joint expenses. We've talked about who will cook and clean and how we can divide things up depending on how our class schedules turn out. I know we'll run into a lot of new situations, but I really want this to work. I know it's rare for young relationships to stand the test of time, but I'm going to put my all into it and maybe we'll be one of the exceptions that makes it."

"I hope so too, honey. It's clear how much he cares for you." She reached out and put her hand on his knee. "I'm going to miss you."

"Me too. It feels like we were just starting to really get the hang of being a blended family."

"I know, honey. But you know as well as I do that time keeps moving forward. It's a double-edged sword. For every event we wish we could skip over, there are events that we'd like to be able to play on repeat. I won't keep you anymore. I know that you're leaving at 5:00 to go pick Chandler up. It's a long drive and you need your sleep."

He stood up and so did she. He walked into the hug she offered.

"Thanks for being such a great mom to me. I love you." He wiped the tears from his cheeks.

"I love you too, honey. We'll come see you in New York some time in the next couple of months."

Kurt nodded and went upstairs to the guest room.

* * *

Kurt's phone woke him up. He rolled over and answered it, eyes to blurry to see who was calling.

"Hello?"

"Kurt, it's Cooper. I've just got a minute. I know it's late. Sorry for waking you up. I wanted to thank you for calling. I won't keep you. I just wanted to tell you that I brought Blaine back to LA with me. We're going to see a counselor together. He's staying. We've found a great performing arts high school for him to attend for his senior year."

"Thanks for letting me know. Things sound like they're looking up."

A photo popped up in his texts. He moved the phone so he could look at it. Blaine was in boat shoes, nearly knee-length Nantucket red cargo shorts and a heathered navy t-shirt that said "Surf's Up" with an electric guitar whammy bar on it. His hair was un-gelled and only slightly tamed.

"He's found a new style out here, as you can see. I had him sell off those heavy cardigans before we left Ohio. I couldn't convince him to ditch the bowties, but the too-small polos are all gone, as are all of the too-short chinos and most of the suspenders."

"He looks more relaxed."

"We're working on it. I gotta go. Thanks again for giving me a chance to help him."

"I'm glad for the two of you." Kurt put his phone back on the other side of the bed and went back to sleep.

* * *

Burt slipped out into the kitchen as Kurt started to make coffee to fill two thermoses.

"Hey, Kiddo."

"Morning, Dad."

"Come give your old man a hug."

Kurt wrapped his arms around Burt's neck.

Burt pulled Kurt into a bear hug. "I'm going to miss you, but you're going to go follow your dream and work to make it real."

"That's the plan."

Burt released his hold.

Kurt put a small amount of cream and some cocoa powder in both thermoses. He put a little sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon into the one for Chandler. He put everything away while waited for the coffee to finish brewing. "We're going to drive three hours and stop and get breakfast. We'll switch places and drive another three hours and get lunch. We'll switch back and drive the last four hours in 2-hour shifts each. The contractor Rex has spoken to is meeting us at the flat. We'll get everything upstairs and he and the framer can get started while we go get what we need from Ikea, bring it back, haul it upstairs, and then return the truck." Kurt picked up the carafe and poured the scalding coffee into the thermoses. He stirred the coffee with a knife, which he dropped into the utensil basket in the dishwasher.

"That sounds like a good plan."

"I have to go. Otherwise, I'll mess the plan up before we even get started." Kurt hugged him again.

"I know. I love you, Kurt."

"I love you too, Dad. I'll text you each time we stop so you know how things are going."

Burt nodded. "Thanks. I'll feel better that way."

Kurt grabbed the thermoses and put them in the lunch bag he had put some fruit in earlier. Burt walked with him out to the U-Haul and waved as he drove off.

* * *

Chandler came out with Queenie in her carrier. He put her in the passenger seat and fastened the carrier in with the seat belt. Kurt hopped out and gave him a hug and a quick kiss before he climbed into the truck and slid to the center position. Kurt got back in and turned to kiss him once again.

"Ready?" Kurt asked.

"Yes. Definitely, yes."

Sharon and James stood on the porch and waved as they drove off.

"That's a really cool carrier. I didn't realize that her bed that was on the cat climber in your room turned into a carrier."

"I splurged on it when I got her. I knew that I'd be taking her with me to college. I wanted her to be leash trained and comfortable on trips. The convertible bed seemed like a good choice. She didn't love the harness at first, but you've seen how nicely she walks on it."

"She's such a smart and beautiful cat," Kurt cooed towards the carrier. "Do you think she's going to miss your mom and dad?"

"I'm not sure since she's never really taken to either one of them. She loves you though, and she loves me. She'll be fine. It might take her a few days to feel relaxed since she's going to spend more time in her bed with the carrier top on than she ever has before, so we'll just have to give her extra love when she is allowed out."

"I can handle that. She's a sweetie."

* * *

Kurt parked the truck at the back of the Arby's lot near a grassy area. He got out and walked to the restaurant while Chandler put Queenie's leash on and took her for a walk. By the time Kurt got back with their food, Chandler was wiping Queenie's feet down with sanitizing wipes. Once he dried them off, he put her back in her carrier. He used one of the wipes on his own hands and tossed them in the trashcan nearby.

"I just know how many other animals have walked through there."

"I think it's a great idea," Kurt said, as he handed both of the drinks to Chandler. He climbed into the center, still holding the bag with their sandwiches in it. He put it on top of Queenie's carrier and grabbed the drink so that Chandler could get in. They ate and headed back out on their way. Kurt texted Burt letting him know they were on schedule.

* * *

Kurt and Chandler made it back to their new flat a little before 9:00. The two guys that were working on framing out their closets were about ten minutes from being done with the closet their bedroom. Kurt and Chandler began to clean the living room while they finished up.

A half-hour later, the guys had removed all of their tools and Kurt paid them. Once they were gone, they cleaned the bedroom floor. Kurt stopped long enough to text Burt that they two guys had done a good job framing out both closets and that they were gone. Fortunately the workmen had brought paint drop cloths and covered their boxes and furniture so once the floors were clean they could move on.

They set up Queenie's litter box end table and let her out of her carrier. They put her food and water dish out for her. A few minutes later, she followed them into the bedroom and jumped up on a box to watch them assemble her cat climber and their bed frame.

"I'm glad we got to bring your bed and dresser and your mom's dress. That saved us quite a bit," Chandler said.

"I'm glad that Rex was able to fix my mom's dresser. It looks amazing now. And once we get the shelving and our desks assembled, the whole room will look great. I'm glad we went ahead and bought the pieces we wanted and stained them in Rex's garage. It would have smelled so bad in here for ages."

"At least we have the low VOC paint to finish up the closets with." He looked towards the closet in their room. "They look really good. And I think can get them done over the weekend and get our clothes hung up Monday like we had planned.

Once they assembled the cat climber, Queenie made herself at home and watched from there while the assembled the bed frame, got the box springs and mattress in place, and made the bed.

Kurt said, "Let's get the ironing board out and get the curtains and the shower curtain out. Once we get those hung, we can shower and go to bed."

* * *

Late Monday afternoon, they walked through their place looking at what they had finished and what they had left to do.

Kurt was carrying Queenie. "So what do you think, beautiful? It's starting to look less like a storage unit and more like a home, isn't it?" He stroked her head just the way she liked as he talked to her.

They stood side by side in the bathroom doorway.

"Well, the shower curtain turned out perfect," Chandler said. "I love how the musical notation appliqués turned out. The brown, warm gray, and navy print fabrics we used look great with the tile and our towels. The towel rods, the narrow vanity, and the hanging storage cabinet all look good too."

Kurt turned right and went into their bedroom. "I really love our room. It feels like both of us. It's cozy and full of love." Kurt put Queenie at the base of her climber. He sat on the side of the bed and patted the space next to him.

Chandler sat down.

"What do you think?"

"I think exactly what you said. It feels like both of us. I loved spending the night with you in Lima, but it did always feel like I was sleeping in your room. Even though we brought your furniture, except the bed frame, this room feels like our room. Our clothes are hanging in the closet together. We each chose things to hang on the walls. We chose the fabric for the curtains and worked on them together. We spent a lot of time working on the bed frame together. It really does feel like us in here."

Kurt flopped back. Chandler followed him.

A wave of self-doubt hit Kurt, but rather than let it fester, he met it head on.

"I want to ask you something." He reached over and took Chandler's hand and interlaced their fingers.

"Sure."

"We've been together almost three and a half months."

"Mmm hmm." He ran his thumb along Kurt's, stroking it gently and reassuringly.

"Are you okay with how things are?"

"I can't think of anything I'm not okay with, but what specific 'things' are you referring to?"

"How physical or not physical we are."

"Are you unhappy?"

"Not at all. The opposite. I'm really happy."

"Good because I'm happy too."

Kurt didn't say anything.

"I don't feel like you got the answer you were looking for."

"Maybe because I didn't ask the right question yet. Do you want to do more than we do?"

"Like sexually?"

"Yeah," Kurt said in a barely audible voice. "We haven't talked about it in a while."

Chandler let go of Kurt's hand so he could scoot back a little bit and roll onto his side to face Kurt, who mirrored his movements.

"I'm very interested in doing more, but I've really enjoyed getting to enjoy each step or whatever you want to call it. Even if I felt like we were going too slow, I wouldn't pressure you, ever. How much I love you and want to be with you as your boyfriend isn't based on how soon you're willing to have sex with me. Do I want to have sex with you? Absolutely. Will I leave if you're not ready in some arbitrary time frame? No. You don't owe me anything. Even if we've been together ten years instead of three and a half months, your body is yours and no one is always in the mood physically or emotionally. Even if we've already done something, I will never assume that it's my 'right' or whatever to do it again just because I want to. That's not me. I want you to enjoy it as much I do. I definitely, definitely want you in that way, so much. I had to make myself focus in school sometimes instead of thinking about you."

A few tears streamed down Kurt's face, but he smiled at the same time.

Chandler reached out and wiped them. He took Kurt's hand and put it over his own heart and put his hand on top. "Not the answer you were expecting?"

"Actually, it was exactly what I thought you'd say, just hearing it made me love you that much more."

"Well, that's good to know because I love you so much." He scooted close enough to kiss Kurt.

Kurt scooted closer as well and licked at Chandler's upper lip. It only took a few seconds before they were kissing passionately.

When they broke apart to catch their breath, Kurt said, "I think seeing the room finished and it feeling so much like it's our room, made me realize that when we meet new people and we invite them over, anyone who sees this room is going to automatically assume that we are doing things that we aren't. I guess I just wanted to make sure that you're okay with that. This room does not at all look like two guys sharing a room to save on costs."

"I like the way our room looks – a lot. And I love you. It's no one's business what we do or don't do together and I will nip any of that type of inquiry in the bud with a resolute answer to point out how it is none of anyone's business. Our private life is private."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." He leaned forward and chastely kissed Kurt. "I don't mind you thanking me because gratefulness goes along with being kind and loving, but I just want to make sure that you realize that some times the things you thank me for make me feel like you're seeing something amazing that's not there. Being decent doesn't put me on the fast track to sainthood."

"I'm trying not to be overly grateful or make you feel uncomfortable, but I need you to know that the level of genuine concern about protecting our relationship and how much you care for my well being is extraordinary from my point of view. You think you're just being a normal amount of decent and I see you as being amazingly kind and thoughtful. We just have different perspectives based on our pasts."

"I get that. I just don't want you to idealize my behavior because I think it still puts you at risk for letting other people be less than decent to you, while potentially not realizing it because they are being more decent than you're used to, but still not a reasonable level of decent for an adult."

"You're right. I appreciate it when you point out things without sounding like I'm stupid. I have a long history of accepting less than reasonable behavior and it will still be a weakness that I'll struggle with for quite a while. But I'll do my best to think you are absolutely amazing without letting other people get away with treating me badly. I love you so much." Kurt pressed in and kissed him again.

"I love you too, but if we lay here much longer, my willpower to assemble our desks is going to ooze into the bed."

Kurt smiled. He pecked Chandler on the lips and got up. He pulled Chandler to standing, but he was quick and wrapped his arms around Chandler and started kissing him before he could leave the room.

* * *

By Thursday evening, they had managed to get the sofa, their desks, the bookcases, and the drop leaf table assembled. That evening, they opened the last of their boxes. They put the TV on the dresser in the living room and got the DVD player and Wii set up. They put the things they had brought to decorate around on the shelves. They finished up by lunchtime. Kurt picked Queenie up and sat down next to Chandler on the sofa. They snuggled up for a bit together.

"I think it looks amazing," Chandler said.

"Me too. I think Queenie is going to miss the boxes, but I'm glad they're all empty and gone. We'll have to go back to those flea markets we went to yesterday morning at some point. There were a lot of interesting things to look at. I'm glad we went ahead and bought those old school chairs from the '60s that we found in that junk shop outside of Findlay. I think our choice to go ahead and stain them to match the rest of our furniture and spray paint the metal on them with the textured dark gray metallic paint turned out great. And your idea to use two of them as bedside tables was inspired. Now we can seat six people for dinner."

"I agree. They're actually really comfortable to sit in too."

"Laundry and grocery shopping tomorrow morning?"

"Yes. My interview isn't until 2:00. I hope I get the job. It's right across the street. I don’t know if you’ve been in there. It’s called The Corner Variety Store. It looks like pictures I’ve seen of old-fashioned five-and-dimes. It has a lot of personality with the old displays."

"I haven’t, but I’m sure I will if you get a job there. My interview is at 3:00, but the shop is a 15 minute walk, but the upside is that it's not open past 7:00, so I wouldn't get scheduled to work super late." He put Queenie down on the couch and wrapped himself around Chandler and closed his eyes.

Chandler smiled and pressed a kissed to Kurt's forehead. "I'll stop and get the pictures printed that we chose. When you get back, we can arrange them in the collage frame we got and get it hung. Sam's painting looks great above the table."

Kurt's phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Is this Kurt Hummel?"

"It is."

"I'm Adam Crawford. Madame Tibideaux said you had stopped by earlier this week and had left your contact information. She gave me a copy of your script. My merry band of misfits and I are interested in staging it as our summer project. Would you by chance have any free time soon? I could come by and actually talk to you about it in person."

Kurt looked at Chandler, who nodded.

"Sure. Would 7:00 tomorrow evening be too late? I have a job interview in the afternoon and I want to make sure that I can be back and not leave you standing around on the landing waiting for me."

"7:00 would be fine."

"We have a cat. Will that be a problem?"

"Nope. I love cats. Why don't you text me your address and I'll bring a pizza with me. Any allergies?"

"Nope. None."

"You said 'we'. How many more people besides you?"

"Just one."

"Alright, then. I'll be at your place at 7:00."

"See you then."

The grin on Kurt's face spread from ear to ear. "He has a British accent and he's interested in staging _Pip, Pip, Hooray!._ I'm in shock. I'll be even more shocked if he decides to do it after we meet tonight."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see." He snuggled back into Kurt's side.

* * *

After his interview Friday, Chandler made some tea and lemonade and chilled them. He laid out the photos and collage frame on his desk. He started arranging and rearranging them. Kurt came in a few minutes later.

"How did your interview go?"

"It seemed to go fine. The manager said that he'd let me know in a day or two. How about yours?"

"I got the job. I start on Monday. He lost a guy a couple of weeks ago and he's hard up to cover all of the vacation time people asked for over the summer." Kurt took the file folder with his ASE certificates in it that in had in his bag out and put it back in the file drawer between their desks. "I'm going to go shower quickly and put on something nicer. He wanted a demonstration of my skills, so I'm sweaty."

"But before you do that, help me finish the placement of the photos. I want to get this hung up. It's the last thing left. I'll put them in while you're in the shower."

* * *

Adam showed up promptly at 7:00. Kurt buzzed him and waited for him on the landing. Adam put the pizza down on the table after he stepped inside

He turned back to Kurt. "Adam Crawford." He extended his hand.

"Kurt Hummel. It's nice to meet you." Kurt shut and locked the door.

Chandler shook hands with him as well. "Chandler Kiehl. We have ice tea and lemonade. Or there's plain water, if you prefer."

Adam stepped up to the sink to wash his hands. "This is an interesting paper towel dispenser. Oh, and I'll have the lemonade, please."

"Oh, Kurt made a bunch of the stuff around the apartment out of left over pieces of pipe and scrap metal."

"An unusual skill. I like the cup holder too." He took the glass of lemonade that Chandler offered him and sat down at the end of the table facing the living room.

Kurt and Chandler sat down as well. They ate and got to know each other a bit. Once they finished, Kurt packed up the two leftover slices and put them in the fridge. Chandler put the chair he had been sitting in back up to his desk. Adam followed him into the living room. Kurt wiped the table down and put the leaves down before he went in and sat down with them.

"The script is really hilarious. My main concern is that you didn't include any music for the songs."

"That's because I don't know how to score music. I have the melodies written out on staff paper. Maybe someone could help me with it?"

"Sure. That wouldn't be an issue really. You'd need to have the time to work with whoever is interested. You'll have to give your input for it to come out sounding like you hear it in your mind."

"I'd be available on weeknights and weekends. I just got a job offer today to work days Monday through Friday."

"I'll see about people's availability. If you don't mind me being nosy – Madame Tibideaux said that you turned down your NYADA admission offer."

"I did. I'm going to FIT."

"Fashion, then. I'm assuming that you have costumes for this as well then."

"I do." He got up and turned his laptop on. "If you give me your email address, I'll email you scans the costumes and the music for the songs." Kurt typed it in as he gave it to him. He attached the files and sent the email.

"Thanks. I won't keep you any longer tonight. If we can get a group together tomorrow morning, would you be available to meet us at NYADA and discuss the music further? That's what we'll have to get arranged first."

"We don't have any plans for tomorrow, except to start on our list of places we want to visit."

He nodded and smiled. "I'll let you know as soon as I can find a time to get most everyone together. We rehearse on Monday afternoons, so if I can't get everyone together over the weekend, I'll let you know when we can all get together sometime Monday afternoon." Adam stood up.

Kurt stood too. "Sure. Thanks for the pizza. And for giving any consideration to actually staging my piece. It would be a lot of fun to see it performed."

Chandler stood and followed the two of them to the door. Kurt locked it after Adam left. When he turned around, Chandler stepped forward, causing Kurt to step back. He kissed Kurt. "I think it's time to break out my guitar and keyboard and put some music into this place. I know we've listened to music all week and we sang along, but we've not actually sung." He pecked Kurt on the lips and stepped back. He offered Kurt his hand and led him back to the living room.

"So, is there a theme to our first music night?"

"Hmm. '70s love songs."

"Okay." Kurt set up his keyboard in front of the TV and began to play.

_So many nights, I'd sit by my window,  
Waiting for someone to sing me his song.  
So many dreams I kept deep inside me,  
Alone in the dark, but now you've come along._

_And you light up my life.  
You give me hope to carry on.  
You light up my days and fill my nights with song._

_Rollin' at sea, adrift on the water,  
could it be finally I'm turnin' for home?  
Finally a chance to say, "Hey, I love you."  
Never again to be all alone._

_And you light up my life.  
You give me hope to carry on.  
You light up my days and fill my nights with song._

_It can't be wrong when it feels so right,  
'Cause you… you light up my life._

Chandler leaned over the keyboard and kissed him. He stepped back and picked up his guitar. "This is usually accompanied by a piano, but here goes."

_When you're weary, feeling small,  
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all.  
I'm on your side, oh, when times get rough,  
And friends just can't be found._

Kurt started playing along on his keyboard.

_Like a bridge over troubled water,  
I will lay me down.  
Like a bridge over troubled water,  
I will lay me down.  
… _

_Your time has come to shine.  
All your dreams are on their way. See how they shine.  
Oh, if you need a friend,  
I'm sailing right behind._

_Like a bridge over troubled water,  
I will ease your mind.  
Like a bridge over troubled water,  
I will ease your mind._

They sang together for another half-hour or so. Kurt put the instruments away while Chandler showered. He had the lights out and the movie ready when Chandler came back. He sat between Kurt's knees and leaned back into his chest and relaxed. 

Kurt wrapped his arms around Chandler. "I was thinking about the words to 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' while you were showering. You really do ease my mind. I just wanted you to know that. I know you don't struggle with anxiety like I do, but I hope I make you feel as loved as you make me feel."

"You do. Every day. So much." He turned and kissed Kurt.

"Ready?" Kurt pressed play.


	21. Chapter 21

Kurt and Chandler walked back from the subway station hand in hand late Saturday afternoon, a little over a week after they had met Adam.

"That was fun getting to tour NYADA and start to practice with all of the Apples this afternoon. They seem like a really fun group. I hope NYU has something similar. I'd love to find something that's sole purpose is enjoying singing and performing. I was jealous after McKinley restarted their Glee Club and North Lima didn't have one. It's not that I didn't enjoy singing in our choir, but the show choirs always looked like they had so much fun, but after talking to you I realized that a lot of drama went on behind the scenes. The Apples seem like the best of both words since they don't compete, I would imagine there's a lot less drama over who sings what."

"Well, I did get the impression from several of them that they aren't looked highly upon at such a competitive school. They're the 'outcasts', so I imagine they've banded together in the Apples, but at the school they are shunned for not being serious enough or good enough or being weird or whatever. I glad that they want to stage my musical because they seem like a fun group to work with. I'm not sure of what to think about the school having such a hierarchy amongst the majors where only the musical theatre and voice students can be at the top. It sounds like high school all over again. No thanks."

Chandler opened the door to their building and let Kurt walk through. When they got upstairs, Kurt unlocked the door, letting Chandler in first. He turned back to lock the deadbolt. Chandler stayed right inside the door. As soon as Kurt turned around, he wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist and kissed him.

"We have the lasagna ready to bake in the fridge," Kurt said. "I was hoping that maybe you'd join me for an early shower since we're all hot and sweaty from walking outside in the heat so much today. We can put our pajamas on early, eat, and snuggle on the couch while we watch the movie we just picked up." He pulled it out of the pocket on his cargo shorts.

Chandler took _The Forger_ from him and put it in his own pocket. "Sounds perfect. While you're in the shower, I can get the lasagna in the oven. I'll turn the sofa into a bed and prop all of the pillows up like we did the other night. And you can set the table after you finish your moisturizing."

Kurt leaned in and spoke softly in Chandler's ear. "I think I wasn't clear. I was hoping that you'd _join_ me for an early shower."

Chandler pulled back a bit, eyes wide. "As in join you in the shower itself?"

Kurt nodded. "Mmm hmm." He kissed Chandler again. "I'm going to go get in the shower and you can join me if you want. No pressure." Kurt moved to step away.

Chandler held on tight. "Can I ask why you've chosen now?"

"I just feel ready now. We made it through the 'cross country road trip', the 'assemble furniture', and the 'complete a home renovation' tests. You've seen my flaws and eccentricities over the last two weeks, and you haven't headed for the hills."

"You're ridiculous sometimes." Chandler kissed him. "Of course you have flaws. You're human. I have flaws too. That doesn't mean that I'm going to move out."

"I know. I know. I promise you that you never did anything to give me that impression. I have an overactive imagination."

"And a long history of being told that your eccentricities are undesirable. But those people were wrong. I actually appreciate a man who alphabetizes his spices." Chandler kissed him. "And the color coordination of the closet makes getting dressed much more efficient." Chandler ran his thumb along Kurt's jaw line as he let his other hand slip down past Kurt's waist. "And I'm sure none of them appreciated your ass in a pair of skinny jeans the way I do."

Kurt laughed. "I love you so much."

"I love you too."

Chandler moved his hands to Kurt's top button and waited.

Kurt nodded

Chandler unbuttoned his shirt, kissing down his chest as he undid each button. "You are so gorgeous." Once he had Kurt's shirt undone, he ran his hands down Kurt's chest until his hands were at Kurt's belt.

Kurt reached for Chandler's belt as well. "Let's take this to the bathroom."

Once they had closed the bathroom door, Chandler slipped Kurt's shirt off his shoulders and kissed him again. Kurt unbuttoned Chandler's shirt while they continued to kiss. They undressed down to their underwear and put their clothes on the hooks on the back of the door. Chandler pressed him back into the wall and they kissed until they had to stop to catch their breath.

He stepped back, grabbed a washcloth from the cabinet, turned the water on, and let it warm up before he pulled the lever to make it come out the sprayer at the top. He undressed the rest of the way and stepped in.

Before Kurt slipped his boxer briefs off, he reached up and turned on the battery operated icicle lights he had sneakily hung between the white shower liner and the fabric shower curtain that morning. He turned the bathroom light off, undressed, and got in with Chandler.

"Ooh, mood lighting. I like it." He reached out for Kurt. "You always think of unusual ways to make things amazing. Trade me places so you can get wet too."

Kurt slid past him and stood under the sprayer facing the wall. Chandler reached out and put a little bit of Kurt's body wash on his fingers and thumbs and began to massage Kurt's shoulders. He let his hands slips down Kurt's arms to his wrists.

He stepped a little closer. "Everything okay?"

"Mmm hmm. Just feeling a lot of different things at once."

"Me too. Have you changed your mind?"

"No, not at all. I was just enjoying you touching me and I just zoned out." He turned around to face Chandler. "Can I wash your hair? You can do mine too."

After they washed each other's hair, they moved on to the rest of their bodies. Fortunately, they had a plentiful hot water supply and no need to rush.

Chandler kissed up Kurt's neck. "This kind of reminds me of when we were in the zoo in Chicago that one building where they had icicle lights hanging from the ceiling, We were alone and we spent several minutes kissing."

Kurt tipped his neck giving Chandler easier access. He ran his fingers along Chandler's jaw and the edge of his earlobe. "You're right. Mmm, that feels so good. How about we dry off and take a detour to our bed and keep making out until the lasagna is done. That way we can get back in the shower quickly before we eat."

"Are you offering me unclothed frottage in our bed?"

"I am. Interested?"

"Only 1000% percent. Although I would have to say running my soapy hands all over you has definitely been fantastically perfect. I loved every second of it."

"Me too. You touching me is so much better than I had ever imagined." Kurt shut the shower off.

"Don't worry about the curtains. I closed them when I folded our covers back and took our pillows into the living room."

* * *

When the movie finished, Kurt used the remote to start some music, and then grabbed the other remote and turned the TV off. Chandler turned a bit from his position lying between Kurt's knees and wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck and laid his head on his own upper arm so that he could easily press a gentle kiss to Kurt's cheek.

"You know what?" Chandler asked.

"Hmm?"

He turned Kurt's face towards his gently and kissed him. "I love you. Now, that the frantic feelings have passed and we've both come down from the high of everything, are you okay with what we did?"

Kurt rearranged just a bit by turning on his side slightly and slipped his leg between Chandler's. He wrapped his arms around Chandler again. "I am. I feel really amazing. I'm absolutely glad that we shared the experiences together. There was no pressure and you gave me time to feel comfortable, which made everything amazing. I love you so much and all of it was perfect." He kissed him more easily in their interlaced position. "How do you feel?"

"Loved. And really good. It was all amazing like you said. I'm also really happy I pushed myself to talk to you that day. I was such a spaz case. Not even in my wildest dreams did I consider that three and a half months later I'd be living in the city I dreamed of living in for so long, in a fabulous flat with my dream guy." He ran his fingers through Kurt's hair. He hummed part of Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are."

"We should work that into a duet. I like our nearly-acoustic evenings of singing together."

"Me too. I like singing with you. Actually, I think I like doing everything with you, including showering now." He smiled and kissed Kurt. "I'm never going to want to shower by myself again."

Kurt chuckled quietly. "I'm not sure that we can prevent that from ever happening, but I'll do my best to keep you company in the shower whenever you want."

"Ooh, now Mr. Hummel, you can't tease a guy like that."

"No, never Mr. Kiehl. I would never tease you in that way. I will always do my best to give you want you want, if it's within my power to do so." Kurt slipped his hand up under Chandler's shirt and ran his fingers along his skin. "I know I've told you before, but I want you to know that you're everything I've ever wanted too. I may not have had a face to put on the man of my dreams, but you're definitely him."

* * *

Chandler came in from work to find Kurt standing in front of one of their collages. He was looking at some photos with Sam in them. Chandler saw a tear escape and slip down Kurt's cheek.

"We've been here a month and I've only spoken to him four times. He's so busy. He's working two jobs. I know that one only lasts until all of the fields have been harvested, but still. I'm glad for him that he found jobs to make the money he said he needed, but it's just a lot harder… I just miss him so much."

"I know." He opened his arms and Kurt stepped into his arms. "You know that he doesn't want to Stacey to have to share a room with Stevie forever."

"I know. I was just looking at some of the pictures from the aquarium. I want to plan a trip to Tennessee, even if we can't go until next spring."

"That sounds like fun. We can start to look into it. For now, maybe we should look into whatever game he was trying to convince us to play. That will give us something to do with him once a week."

"You're right. Let's look it up tonight. How about we sway over to the sound system and we turn on some music and dance for while?"

* * *

The summer had gone well for the two of them. They both worked as many hours a week as they could while leaving themselves time to go see some of the sights at the top of their lists. Santana and Brittany had stayed with them for a week in early August. Mike had stayed with them for a few days when he arrived and his apartment wasn't ready yet. The beginning of the school year was approaching quickly, leaving them just over two weeks to enjoy the end of their summer.

Burt and Carole arrived Thursday afternoon from DC. Kurt followed Chandler down to carry their luggage back up for them. He opened the door once they were all back up.

Carole stepped in first. "I saw the pictures and the floor plan you sent, but I still just couldn't quite piece it together in my mind. It's small, but I really like the layout." She followed Kurt into the living room.

"You can put your clothes in the dresser. We left room in the coat closet for you to hang a few things too. You can put the suitcase up in the top. Those doors hinge up towards the ceiling."

"That was a good idea," Burt said. "This closet looks great. Mind if I see the other one?"

"Of course not. I was going to show it off. Chandler and I worked hard on designing it and finishing it."

Kurt and Chandler gave them the full closet tour and showed the slide-outs under the bed as well.

"The next time you're in Lima, I may contract you to soup up our closet," Burt said. "That's some fancy design you got going on in there. The new house doesn't have as many closets and getting them done up like that would sure make it easier to get everything in them. We've still got our winter clothes folded up in boxes in a stack on the side of our room."

Carole chimed in. "I'm having Rex put in another closet for Finn and do some work on the guest bedroom. Once he's got that done, we'll have room to hang our extra stuff in there until we get our own closet it more functional. It's a small walk in, but all it has are those two hanging bars."

"I remember. Measure everything carefully and I'll do some layout options and send them to you. I've got a couple of weeks with no homework left. I can do Finn's and the guest room too, as long as you get me the measurements when you get back to Lima. Even if we can't do the installation ourselves, with the drawings, you could get what you need and have someone install everything. "

"That's true," Carole said. She turned and looked around their room. "I like the combination of the wood and the pipes. That musical piece looks great over your bed. The curtains look good too." She left and peeked into the bathroom. "This looks really nice too. I love the shower curtain." She stepped back into the kitchen. "For such a small place, it doesn't feel cramped. And with the closet additions, you have plenty of storage."

"We do. The addition of the closet in the living room makes it a lot easier to have guests stay over. We're really glad you could come. We'll let you get your stuff unpacked and change if you want." He turned and pointed to the left of the sofa. "The room divider is there if you want to change in here. We're going to stop at this Chinese place we like on the way to NYADA."

* * *

Carole and Burt walked around NYADA, both inside and out for the 45 minutes between when Kurt and Chandler had to be there and when they could enter the auditorium. They looked at the program and turned to smile at each other when they saw "Book and Score by Kurt Hummel" on the front.

"I know this isn't Broadway," Burt said. "But he did it. He worked on this last summer. He showed it to me."

"Me too. I thought it was funny, but I'm so happy for him that he's getting to perform in it. It may just be a small stage in a school where the actors invited their friends and family, but it's still huge for him."

"It is."

They sat in silence as more people came into the auditorium. There were no tickets, so people just sat wherever they wanted to.

A few minutes later, a woman in colorful robe and turban came up to them. "Congressman and Mrs. Hummel," she nodded and offered her hand.

They both responded and shook her hand.

"I'm Madame Tibideaux, Dean of Vocal Performance here at NYADA. I was disappointed that Kurt turned down his admission offer, but I'm still keeping my eye on him. He's unique, which can be a double-edge sword, depending on the situation. I don't wish him to fail at fashion, but I'm hoping that he might change his mind and join us next fall."

Burt said. "He's always had a flair for the dramatic and he's been sewing since he was seven or so. He'd make costumes and put on shows for me when he was little. He's a character. That's for sure. He's unlikely to fail at whatever he puts his mind to, but he may very well decide to pursue theater after he spends some time in the fashion world. We'll have to wait and see."

"I'm going to head up to the projection room and watch from there. My presence tends to intimidate people. And since this is just for experience and entertainment, I'd rather let them all enjoy themselves." She nodded again and walked away.

They enjoyed the show. Burt didn't get a lot of the jokes or the humor, but he enjoyed getting to see Kurt perform so freely. He was clearly in his element. They stood and applauded at the end. Once the actors had all left the stage, they sat back down to wait.

"Chandler was surprisingly good," Carole said. "I guess I shouldn't be so surprised since he got into NYU to study musical theatre, but I'd never seen him in anything. He has a great voice. And honestly, he wasn't anything like himself up there. If I hadn't known that he was in the show, I don't think I could have picked him out."

"He was really good. They seem to be doing well. They've been here, what, seven weeks? "

"Sounds right."

"Their place looks great. Kurt seems genuinely happy. It's hard to see just one bed in their room because I still feel like he's a kid, but that's my issue not his. He and Chandler seem happy together, so that's what matters. They held hands while we were out. That's what I've wanted for him – for him to get to be himself and he's himself here. It's hard, but I'm trying."

"I know, honey. You want for him what he has here, but you're disappointed that he had to move so far away to get it."

"Maybe not disappointed. Frustrated. He spent so much time protecting me that he effectively built a wall between us. I was just too blind to see it. I just listened to his words and didn't bother examining what he said. I went to that school. I know what went on there 20 years ago. The guys I went to school with had kids that went to school with Kurt. I know how they were. I should have realized how their kids would be."

"How would knowing have changed anything? Would you have sold the shop and moved to a bigger city or some place that had private schools for him to attend?"

"Yes, maybe. I don't know."

"I think the only thing you can do now is to try to be the parent you want to be. You just sat through a musical that I am sure you didn't get much out of other than watching him and to some extent Chandler."

"That's true, but this means a lot to him."

"It does. And it means even more that you came to watch him." Carole saw Kurt coming out into the seating area.

He and Chandler had huge smiles on their faces. Burt got up and pulled Kurt into a hug. Chandler accepted the hug Carole offered.

"You two were great," she said. "Everyone did a great job."

"Thanks," Kurt said. "We're all going out for ice cream or smoothies or frozen yogurt. They're back there decided right now. Friends and family are invited. We don't have to go though if you're tired and you're ready to go."

Carole shook her head and rolled her eyes. "You think your dad would turn down dessert?"

"That's true."

Chandler said, "I'll run backstage and see what they've decided."

* * *

Sunday afternoon, they said their goodbyes before going downstairs to wait for the taxi Kurt had called. They hugged one more time before they loaded their suitcase in the trunk. They waved as Burt and Carole headed off to the airport.

"I have an idea. Wait here." Kurt said. He went back inside the building. He came back down wearing a backpack. He kissed Chandler gently and took his hand. "Let's go for a walk. The storm yesterday knocked the heat down to where it's tolerable to be outside again."

They stopped at a taquería, bought one of each type of meat, and took their food to Bryant Park for an impromptu picnic. Kurt opened the backpack and pulled out the picnic table cover and supplies that he had previously kept in the back of the Navigator. He spread the tablecloth out and Chandler sat the bag of tacos down. Kurt set the table with the plates. They cut each of the tacos in half and Kurt laid them on the plates so they formed a circle. They sat next to each other and ate.

"I really like the shredded pork. It has just a little heat to it," Chandler said.

"I like the chorizo too. I'd never actually tried it before."

"Me neither. This reminds me of our first meal together, except that we had Japanese food that time."

"And this time, neither of us is nervous." Kurt leaned towards Chandler and was met with a kiss. "Two weeks and one day left of summer vacation. And our last weekend will actually be a vacation. I'm really excited to go to the beach."

"Me too." Chandler took one of the napkins and wiped the plates off. He collected the trash and threw it out and sat back down next to Kurt. "Anything else on your agenda?"

"No. Is there something you'd like to do?"

"I'd like to go back to that bookstore that we walked past."

"Sure." Kurt stood up. He folded the tablecloth up and packed everything back in the backpack. He wrapped his arms around Chandler's waist. "You know what?"

Chandler smiled at him. "What?"

Kurt leaned forwards and kissed him. "I love you."

Chandler chuckled. "And I love you."

After searching through the bookstore for a while, they both found books they thought would be interesting to read. They paid and walked back home. They gathered up their laundry and took it down to the basement and read their books while they waited.

Chandler's phone rang and he answered it. "Hello, Janine. How are you this lovely Sunday evening?"

"Is Kurt there?"

"Yes."

"Put me on speaker."

Chandler pressed the button. "You're on."

"Finn and I are finally an actual real dating couple. I have a boyfriend."

"Congratulations!" Kurt said. "I'm assuming this happened today?"

"It did. We've been unofficially dating ever since the Fourth of July, but tonight I asked him to be my boyfriend and he said 'yes'. I'm really excited. He's super sweet. I know that he's been hurt pretty badly before, but I won't do that to him, Kurt."

"I know."

"I really miss you guys. It feels like Chandler should be back any time now. I'm used to him going and staying with Marlene and going to theatre camp, but usually he comes back by now. It's going to be really weird without you here."

"You're going to come see us, right?" Chandler asked.

"We're going to see when we can. I got the information on our school breaks. I'll email it to you."

Kurt said, "I already have Sebastian and Adrian's. Santana and Brittany sent theirs too. Tina's going to come visit Mike. So, our social calendar will be filled in a couple of months. As soon as I get yours, I'm going to see what I can do to get everyone here."

"Sounds good to me."

They temporarily abandoned their books to talk about their classes for the fall.

* * *

Kurt finished hanging a few of their shirts up to dry on the back of their bedroom door while Chandler put all of their clothes that were already dry in the dresser and the closet. When he finished, he put their laundry basket in the closet. Kurt caught him before he could step away and wrapped his arms around him.

"I want to talk to you."

"Sure. You sound upset. Did you get a text with bad news or something?"

"No. I've just been thinking a lot."

"That's nothing new," Chandler teased. "Bed or sofa?"

"Sofa."

They moved to the living room and got comfortable. Chandler was half-lying and half-sitting. Kurt lay on his side with his head on Chandler's chest, both of them had their feet extended out along one edge of the sectional.

Kurt took Chandler's hand and interlaced their fingers. "I've just been doing a lot of thinking and I just don't think I can do it."

"It?"

"Have sex with you, or anyone."

"Honey, we've been having sex for over a month now. You mean you want to stop?"

"No, no. Not at all. I mean I don't want to 'go all the way'."

"Oh. Okay." He tipped his head down and kissed the top of Kurt's head.

"That's all you're going to say?"

"Surely, you didn't expect me to be upset?"

"No, I guess not upset like angry, but I figured you'd be upset like disappointed. I thought when we started doing what we've been doing that I'd want to keep going, you know go all the way."

"I told you that I'd never push you past what you were comfortable with. As slow as we've taken things, I already knew you were hesitant. I don't love you because I thought one day you'd have … that we'd do that. That's just one way to have sex. I know a lot of people put a lot of emphasis on that being the epitome of gay sexuality or something, but there are plenty of things we haven't tried that don't involve that at all. And honestly, I've enjoyed every second of what we've already been doing. I don't feel deprived or something. I did a lot of research when I was at Marlene's summer before last. I knew she wouldn't care since I was 16. She actually helped me find a lot of good articles to read. She read them too. We talked a lot. It was interesting to read about gay men's perspectives on it versus what we hear in general."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there were all these statistics and just men talking about their perspectives because I just read a bunch of different things. I think it was somewhere around 20-30% of gay men never go all the way. And quite a good percentage who do or did, don't do so very often or quit because they never enjoyed it. I guess maybe I just have a different perspective from reading stuff like that when I was younger. I didn't agree to be your boyfriend because I was on a one-way track to that. I already had a crush on you and I really had a good time with you the first weekend we spent together. I wanted to go out with you. And I like you even more now that we've gotten to know each other. You're my best friend and I love you so much. Why would I give up what I value so much just because you don't want to do something?"

"I don't know, honestly. That's a good question because I know I wouldn't, but maybe it just comes from hearing guys talk about dumping a girl because she wouldn't put out."

"That's just sad. Guys who talk like that are just using women or girls as living fleshjacks, something they use for their own pleasure. I wonder how many of those girls the guys were willing to satisfy emotionally and physically. Was it a reciprocal situation? Were they making the experience mutually enjoyable? From some of the locker room talk I've heard, I'd say no." He squeezed Kurt's hand. "Back to us. Do I feel like having sex a way that doesn't interest you is more important to me than our relationship? Absolutely not. Would I leave you for someone who offered me that? Definitely not. If you changed your mind, would I try it? Probably. Does that mean I want you to change your mind? Not at all." He paused for a second. "Look at me, please."

Kurt slid back enough that he could tip his head up enough to look Chandler in the eyes.

"I'm not unhappy or disappointed. I love having sex with you. If someone asked me if I enjoy sex, I'd definitely say yes. But no one has the right to ask me invasive questions about how I like to have sex unless it's my doctor and I'm sick in some way that the question becomes relevant." He couldn't quite reach Kurt's lips, so he kissed him on the forehead. "You and I are fine – better than fine. I love you and you love me and we enjoy having sex with each other in the ways that we have been, right?"

"Definitely yes to all of those."

"Well then, we're two teen guys in a committed monogamous relationship who love each other and will continue to enjoy having sex in ways that appeal to both of us."

Kurt scooted up so he could kiss Chandler. "I'm so glad you're my boyfriend."

"Mmm. Me too. I like being your boyfriend."

Kurt smiled, but continued to kiss him. "So, what would you say to a nice shower and an evening of music and reading?"

"I'm in, but I don't want to move just yet. I'm enjoying our snuggling and kissing." He adjusted the way he was propped up until they were both comfortable and resumed the kissing.

* * *

Kurt turned to face Chandler with a second pair of pajama pants in his hand, but pulled them back quickly when Chandler reached for them. "I like your birthday suit better."

Chandler eyes lit up and he raised his eyebrow. He quickly pantsed Kurt and snatched the pajama pants. "I'll go without if you do."

"We'll have to read in here then. I feel weird sitting in the living room without any clothes on."

"Works for me. I'll go get our books." He came back a couple of minutes later. "I turned the lights off and brought your phone." He sat down on the bed and put the between them.

Kurt climbed over them and onto Chandler's lap. "I don't think I've quite finished kissing you," he teased.

"Oh, well, please, by all means, let's get back to it then." He made space for Kurt to be able to sit on the bed itself and wrap his legs around his waist.

Kurt scooted as close as he could and ran his fingers through Chandler's still-wet hair. "You are so hot. I just want to kiss you all over."

"Oh, now that sounds like a fantastic idea. Please?"

* * *

After working as many hours as they could the final two weeks of their summer break, they both took the 3-day weekend off. They rented a car and drove out to Montauk Bay State Park early enough Saturday morning to be there for the sunrise. They parked in the large lot and walked to the beach. They snuggled up and waited for the sunrise.

"I think we should come do this once a year, whether it's one of the Great Lakes like we did back the morning after prom or whether it's the ocean. It's just so calming and grounding," Kurt said. "I love New York so far, but there are so many people and it's noisy." He leaned into Chandler and kissed him on the temple. "This is perfect. It's quiet, well not quiet, but there are no car horns or sirens."

"I think it's a great idea. Maybe next year, we can save up enough to rent a place for a couple of nights."

"I'd like that. We can look along the Connecticut and Rhode Island coast too to see if we can find a place we can afford."

They didn't have to wait much longer for the sunrise. They took a few photos, but like they had at the lake, they focused on experiencing the beauty together. They spent the rest of the day at park and the beach. They visited the lighthouse as well. They spent the last two days of the weekend as a stay-cation in the flat. They had stocked up and spent the time relaxing.

* * *

They had stayed on top of things their first two weeks of classes. They worked fewer hours and managed to get a schedule set so they had time for each other as well. The Monday of their third week, Chandler came home very excited. He called out to Kurt as he entered the flat.

"Kurt?"

"I'm in the bedroom, ironing the fabric I need to use for the project I'm working on."

Chandler came around the corner with a huge smile on his face. Kurt looked up from the ironing board.

"I have news to tell you, but you look like you have news too. You go first."

"Guess who go the role of Captain Hook in the production of _Peter Pan_ NYU is doing."

"You."

"Yes, me! I'm sooo excited."

Kurt sat the iron down and hugged him. "Congratulations! That's a great role. I can't imagine you being scary or intimidating, but I'm sure you will be fantastic."

"Thank you." Chandler squeezed him. "What's your good news?"

"I got the internship at Vogue."

Chandler nearly shrieked. "That's the one you really wanted!"

"It is. I can hardly believe it. I'm going to be working with Isabelle Wright."

"That's amazing! I'm so happy for you. We have to celebrate."

Kurt kissed him. "I'm all for celebrating. You pick some place and we'll order in or you can warm up leftovers. Whatever. It's about the mood, not the food." Kurt kissed him again before he went back to his ironing. "I just need to finish this and we can start our celebration."

"I'll order from the Korean place not far from here. I already packed up our leftovers to take in our lunches this week when I was home earlier before I went to work." He took his phone out and called in their order so it would be ready when he got there. "I'll be back soon. Maybe you can finish the ironing while I'm gone."

"Hopefully."

Once Chandler left, he pulled out this phone and called Sam.

"Hey, Kurt! What's up?"

"I got the internship at Vogue!"

"That's awesome. When do you start?"

"This Friday."

"I'm really happy for you. I have good news too."

"What?"

"I got on at that construction company as an apprentice. I'm going to learn to flip houses. And I've finally decided what I want to do for a job. I'm going to get a real estate license."

"That's a great idea. I had never thought of that, but you are super friendly and you make people feel comfortable."

"Thanks."

"Guess what? Chandler got Hook."

"Aww, man. Send me the dates. I was planning to come visit anyway. Maybe I can see him in the musical. I was really aggravated that I couldn't see both of you in your musical. I'm glad you had someone record it."

"Me too. I'll send you the dates later tonight. He's not here right now to get them from him."

"Good deal."

Kurt could hear commotion in the background.

"Everyone else is back. Chaos is about to ensue. Send me those dates."

"Will do."


	22. Chapter 22

Kurt had just stepped inside the flat and closed the door behind him when he heard sobbing coming from the living room. He put his bag down on the table on his way through the kitchen. He rushed to Chandler's side and pulled him into his chest, holding him close and running his hand along his back.

"Chandler, honey, what's wrong? What are you so upset?"

Chandler answered, but his sobs kept Kurt from being able to understand anything besides "Queenie."

"Chandler, what's wrong with Queenie?"

He took a deep breath and said, "She's gone. I came home early to make a surprise for you for tonight and she's not here."

Kurt pushed Chandler back a little and wiped his eyes. "Honey, she's not gone. She's getting her teeth cleaned. You told me how important it was the other night, so this morning during my break, I started calling around places to find something close by. The place closest to here had a cancellation and I took it. I came home at lunch and took her there. She should be ready to pick up now."

"Oh, God," he broke down sobbing again.

Kurt held him close. "I knew you wouldn't be home until later. I came home to pick her up and bring her back. I'm so sorry. I thought I'd surprise you by taking her since you've been so busy with rehearsals."

Chandler leaned into Kurt and let himself be held. He eventually managed to get himself to where he was just occasionally sniffling. "Her bed is still in the climber in our room."

"I let her walk. It's just a few of blocks from here. We can either carry her back or put the top on her bed and carry her back in that." Kurt wiped Chandler's eyes again and kissed him gently. "I'm so sorry. I never meant to scare you. I love you and Queenie and I would never intentionally hurt either of you."

"I know. I know." He sniffled. "I hadn't managed to get myself together enough to call you after I finished searching everywhere. Let's go get her. She'll be pretty out of it."

"I'll bring her carrier, if you want."

"I'll just carry her home."

They both stood up. Kurt wrapped his arms around Chandler. "If I ever take her out of the apartment again, even if you're not supposed to be home while she and I are gone, I'll text you and tell you. I'm so sorry I scared you so badly."

"My heart just broke when I couldn't find her."

"I know, honey." He stepped back. "Let's go get her. You two can snuggle on the sofa and I'll make dinner."

"How about we buy dinner on the way home and we all three snuggle when we get back?"

"Sure."

* * *

Once they were back, Kurt held Queenie while Chandler changed. He grabbed a towel and lay back partially reclined with it on his chest. Kurt laid Queenie down on the towel and went to change.

Kurt snuggled into Chandler's side. He stroked Queenie gently. "They said it would wear off by 6:00. That's not too much longer. We'll see if she wants a drink then."

"I'm just so glad that she's okay. I mean I know she's not going to live forever, but that's different than thinking she was lost and maybe injured or afraid."

"I know you told me to stop apologizing, but I really won't ever do something like that again."

"I know."

"Why did you ask off early to make dessert?"

"Well, I have rehearsal from 8-10. I got the stuff to make us a cheesecake and I was going to make it before you got home and get it in the refrigerator and surprise you with it after dinner, before I had to leave."

"Mmm." He stopped petting Queenie and reached up to run his hand along Chandler's jaw. He gently turned his face and kissed him. "That sounds delicious and really sweet of you. I had a slightly different sweet plan. I bought your favorite ice cream and hid it behind some vegetables in the freezer at lunch when I came to get Queenie. I was planning to have it when you got back from rehearsal."

"I see." He kissed Kurt.

"I was planning on celebrating six months of having the most amazingly kind, sweet, loving, and totally hot boyfriend, who I am totally in love with."

"What a coincidence. That is exactly what I had planned on celebrating. I think we'll go with your ice cream option for tonight since we've spent the time I had going to get Queenie and snuggling with her. We can make the cheesecake together whenever we're both going to be here for a couple of hours."

"I'll check our schedules while you're at rehearsal."

* * *

While Chandler was at rehearsal, Kurt took all of the school calendars he had been sent and opened them all at the same time on his laptop. He snuggled Queenie on his lap while he looked at all of them. He wanted to maximize the time that everyone who was coming would have in the City while preventing any overlaps if possible. But he also knew that there was no way that he and Chandler could play tour guide for two to three weeks straight.

An hour later and multiple texts between Kurt and the others, he finally had a schedule set. Sebastian and Adrien would visit from October 12-16. Sharon and James wanted to see _Peter Pan_ , so they would be stay October 26-30. Sam would be arriving two days later and staying through November 4th. They were going home for Thanksgiving, so they'd see Janine and Finn then, and they would come to stay with them the first five days after finals in December. Afterwards, they'd all fly back to Ohio for Christmas together.

Once he confirmed everyone's dates, he helped Queenie get a drink. He moved her bed to the floor level of the climber, kissed her on the head, and laid her in it.

He got busy on his project for the evening and managed to get done ten minutes before the earliest that Chandler might get home. He looked it over and was pleased with the outcome. He ironed it quickly, and then folded it neatly and put it a decorated box, which he placed on Chandler's desk while he picked up his mess and straightened everything up, making sure that the whole flat looked good. He put the box in the middle of his stack of sweaters in the closet.

He still felt terrible for the pain he had unintentionally inflicted on Chandler that afternoon. Chandler, who had never been anything but amazing to him, whom he loved so much. He sighed. He picked up a book and sat down on the sofa to wait for him.

When he couldn't focus, he tipped his head back and closed his eyes for a few minutes. He let his mind wander through the last six months he had spent with Chandler. He challenged Kurt to be his best all while living in the moment. It had been such a life-changing thing. With Chandler by his side, he had learned to let go and just enjoy living, not quite all the time yet, but he was getting better at it. Chandler had been like a force of nature with hurricane winds pushing away Kurt's self-doubt, but without the deluge of water washing away everything that made him unique. Instead, being around him made Kurt see his eccentricities as a beautiful part of himself. Chandler saw no need for him to be anyone besides who he was, and encouraged him to embrace his weirdness, just as he embraced his own.

He startled just slightly when he heard Chandler put his key in the lock. He put his book back on the shelf and made it to the door before Chandler got the second lock open.

A sweet smile spread across Chandler's face when he saw Kurt waiting for him. As soon as he was inside, Kurt pushed the door closed and wrapped his arms around Chandler and kissed him.

"How was rehearsal?"

"It's going pretty well. It's a lot of fun. I've never been intimidating. It's an interesting change of pace."

"And no one questions it. That's the fun part. You just get to feel what it's like to be intimidating without actually having to convince anyone that you are."

"Yep. I can't wait for you to see the show."

"I'm looking forward to it. Ready to shower and then indulge ourselves with ice cream?"

"Absolutely." He followed Kurt into their bedroom.

* * *

A little over 30 minutes later, the two of them were mostly ignoring a movie, while sitting on the sofa feeding each other ice cream in between kissing. When they polished off the pint of ice cream, Chandler took the container and spoons to the kitchen. We he went back to the sofa, he found Kurt stretched out on his back. When he got closer, Kurt reached out for him.

"Come snuggle me?"

"It would be my pleasure."

He tried to lie down next to Kurt, but he was positioned in the center of the cushions.

"There doesn't seem to be any place for me."

Kurt patted his own chest. "Right here on me."

Chandler put his right knee along the back of the couch and his left on the outer edge of the cushion. "I'm going to squish you."

"Mmm hmm. Please do." Kurt adjusted the pillow he had his head on so that it came up over the edge of his shoulder, giving Chandler someplace to put his head. He wrapped his arms around Chandler once he was comfortable. He turned his head to the side and they were nose to nose. "Perfect." He breathed in deep and let it out slowly. "Is this okay for you? I just want to talk for a little bit, but I wanted you really close. I should have asked."

"It's good. Really good. Do you mind if I slip my hand under your shirt. I'm not trying to start anything. I just want to touch your skin instead of your shirt."

"Sure." He waited until Chandler was comfortable. "Are your classes going okay? Do you like it at NYU now that you've been there a few weeks?"

"I do. I've met a lot of really cool people. I think getting a part in the play made a big difference. I've been thrown into working with people, which has prevented me from hanging back and observing more and participating less. Not that I would have, but being so involved already prevents that from even being an option. I was going to ask you if it would be okay to invite some of them over for dinner Saturday. We can do a pitch-in or split the cost of ordering in pizzas. I was thinking maybe music trivia games and card games?"

"Sure. That sounds fun."

"Friday night, I want to take you out dancing."

Kurt kissed him. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

"I am. "

"I accept."

Chandler kissed him this time. "Good. How about you?"

"How about me what?"

"Going to FIT. Do you like it? You haven't actually really talked about it much."

"It's not what I expected. I've not really felt that sense of community like you just talked about. We'll break up into teams for projects some from what's been said, but the whole thing is kind of impersonal. I mean I expected that because there are a lot more students than there were at McKinley, so there will never be that sense of everyone knows everyone in their year. But this goes beyond that. There are just a lot of people that are not even at the same point in their lives. There are some 50-year-olds in my classes. People that are older than my dad. There's no sporting events, so there aren't a lot of people rooting for the same thing, so that feeling of having seen a hundred people wearing a sports-related article of clothing proudly supporting the school isn't there. A lot of the students are commuters. I'm far from the only one who set my schedule up so that I can work. Plus, most of us are doing internships as well. I'm not even sure I'm making sense. But I'm going to have to work harder to make friends here than you will. I need to look harder for a club bulletin board or something. Maybe it's online? Otherwise, I'm going to end up knowing a few people's names and that's it."

"NYU is huge, but my department isn't that big and I do have several classes with a group of people, plus I see the same people at rehearsals three evenings a week. I do get what you're saying. You haven't found anything like the Apples or the musical I'm in where you can find a group of people where you feel like you belong. You were at Vogue today doing your first day of actual work. How did that go?"

"Basically, I love Isabelle, but today the job itself was a lot like Andy Sachs first day under Miranda Priestly, but a nice version. There's just a lot of information. Who has what, where things are, where to get them, who to call to get them, who to put through immediately, who to take messages from. I'm determined to get it memorized as quickly as possible. I have a leg up on Andy since I at least know what cerulean is."

Chandler laughed.

"I'm having dinner with Rachel tomorrow. She and I set the date before we left Lima."

"I remember you doing that, but it just seems weird that it's been four months already."

"Almost four months that we've been out of high school and I could not be more glad to never have to go back." He ran his hand through the back of Chandler's hair and kissed him.

"As much as I am enjoying this, I need to move our snuggle to the bed and attempt to go to sleep. I have the early shift."

"Alright, but there's one thing I'd like to do for you before you go to sleep."

Chandler pushed up and climbed off of Kurt and waited for him to stand. He wrapped his arms around Kurt and kissed him. "You can do it with me in the bed, right?"

"Definitely." He followed Chandler to their room. "Just lay down on your back with enough room for me to straddle you."

"I'm too tired for that."

" _That's_ not what I was planning." Kurt pulled the covers up over Chandler and turned the lights off. "I was going to give you a hand massage, but if you just want to sleep, I can save it for another time."

"Will you be offended if I fall asleep while you're doing it?"

"Not at all."

"Sounds great then."

Kurt climbed over him and picked up his hands and pulled them up to his lips and kissed across his knuckles before leaning forward and kissing him gently on the lips. "I love you. Just relax."

"I love you too."

Kurt put a small amount of lotion on his fingers and massaged Chandler's hand just the way he liked it. Kurt moved off of his lap after he had finished his left hand. He fell asleep about halfway through the right hand. Kurt slipped under the covers as gently as possible. Once he was on his side, Chandler instinctively rolled onto his side and wrapped his arm around Kurt.

* * *

The next afternoon, Kurt was wandering around the atrium at NYADA looking at the student activity boards. Adam observed him for a few minutes before approaching him.

"Some of the student groups would be open to having a non-NYADA student joining, especially a non-student so multi-talented as you."

Kurt rolled his eyes at Adam's compliment. "Uh huh, sure."

"Oh, no it's true. I mean take for example the Adam's Apples." He pointed to the group's poster. "As the leader of this group, I can honestly say that I've never had a non-NYADA student ask to join, but I would most certainly agree to admit you to the group."

"I'm so busy already, Adam. I don't know that I would have the time to devote to the group."

"Just come listen. Give me a fair chance to convince you."

"I've heard all of you sing before. You do remember that, right?" he teased.

"Of course, but you heard us sing _your_ music. Come listen and see what we've done with well… just come listen."

Kurt checked his phone for the time. "Okay, you've convinced me. I'm meeting Rachel in 20 minutes. I just came here straight from my classes to wait for her."

"Perfect."

He took off towards one of the small auditoriums, with Kurt following behind. When they got halfway down the stairs to the stage, one of the Apples started the song.

_L.A. face with the Oakland booty._

Kurt cracked up as he took a seat and Adam joined the rest of the group to sing lead on the strangest cover of "Baby Got Back". Kurt smiled and laughed through their whole presentation. When they finished, Adam joined him in the audience. He sat with one chair in between them and turned to face Kurt.

"What do you say, Kurt? We want you. We need you."

He thought about how lonely he was at FIT and how he had just told Chandler how he was going to have to work to find a place where he fit. He had loved working with the Apples over the summer and Adam was just too much fun to turn down. "Fine, you've won me over. But honestly, I'm not even sure how I have time to do this."

"We'll find a way," Adam wiggled his eyebrows and gave Kurt the most genuine smile. "I'll lead you back out to the atrium to wait on Rachel. Come on."

* * *

Rachel was waiting where she could see Kurt come into the atrium from any of the entrances. When she saw Kurt enter with Adam and then hug him before he walked off, she was thoroughly confused. She began to walk towards him and he saw her. He motioned for to continue to walk towards him and he slowly walked to the doors.

As soon as they were outside, she said, "What about Chandler? Did you guys break up or something?"

Kurt gave her one of his have-you-lost-your-mind looks. "Why would I break up with Chandler? He's amazing and I love him." He guided Rachel around the corner towards the vegetarian restaurant that he had chosen.

"I just saw you hugging Adam."

"Oh. Adam and I are friends. We met this summer when the Apples staged my musical."

"Your musical?"

"The one I wrote last summer."

"I didn't know you wrote a musical last summer."

"Well, I did. And the Apples, Chandler, and I rehearsed and performed it in August. It was a lot of fun. He was just trying to convince me to join the Apples."

"You don't go to NYADA."

"He's aware, Rachel. He said that since he's the leader, he can decide who can join."

"Why would you want to be a part of the Apples? That's like career suicide. They're the lowest of the low at NYADA."

"I don't attend NYADA. We just covered that. So how would singing with the Apples negatively affect my social standing at FIT?"

"Right, right. But I guess I figured that you might still consider changing your mind and enroll at NYADA instead."

"Well, if I had been considering that as an option, knowing that there is such a such a negative view of people getting together to sing for fun doesn't really encourage me to continue thinking about it. Why would I want to go to a school with that type of hierarchy?"

They walked in silence for a few blocks. Kurt stopped and pulled the restaurant door open and let Rachel walk in.

"The whole menu is vegetarian. They have vegan options, if that's what your doing now. It has good reviews, but I haven't been here before."

"Sounds perfect."

They got in line. When they got to the front, they were faced with starch options. They could have their main course served with a variety of pastas, over rice, over rice and beans, or as tacos or burritos. They made their way down the line as the servers added their choices. They chose their drinks, paid, and went to find a table.

They both started to eat.

After a few bites, Rachel said, "This is really good. I'll definitely be coming back here."

"It is good. So, tell me about NYADA, besides the high school-ish behavior of social standing."

"Well, my roommate is doing everyone in the school. I know her name and the sounds she makes having sex, but that's about it. She's not a musical theatre major and she's not in any of my classes."

"That's terrible, Rachel. Why haven't you asked to be moved to a different room?"

"I was told that there aren't any spaces available. Dorm space is notoriously completely full. Living on campus cuts down commuting time and some people have had their same rooms for years."

"I'm sure there's some type of appeal process if her behavior is keeping you from being able to study or sleep. You should attempt to negotiate with her for time in the room. You could compare schedules and make sure that you're using the room when she has class. And then you could divide up the time that you could both be in the room into times when she can have company over and the same for you. Not that I think you'll use your visitor's time for the same purpose, but you should have that option. You should have an RA or something to help you work through the issue."

She nodded. "You're right. I just don't know how to deal with it. The bathrooms are co-ed and that's weird too. Walking into the bathroom and having guys coming out of the showers with just towels wrapped around them is just hard to get used to." She blushed.

"I take it that at least one of these guys clad in only a towel has gotten your attention?"

"Yeah, his name is Brody Weston. He's a junior. He made it a point to assure me that he's straight as he left the bathroom."

"Mmm hmm. So, I'm assuming that Brody fills his towel out well?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Kurt!" Rachel admonished.

"What? He seems to have caught your eye. Are you going to ask him out?"

"He's like 20."

"And hot from the color you're blushing. Go for it. Ask him out."

"What about Finn?"

"Rachel, it's time to move on. Finn has."

"Wait. Finn is seeing someone?"

"He is."

She sighed. "I just always figured that he and I were endgame."

"Your first love doesn't always end up being the person you make a life with. Finn has different goals than you do. He doesn't want to live here in the City. It's time for you to spread your wings and fly. You don't have to ask Brody to marry you and be the father of your children. Go out. Like we are. Get to know him. See if there's something there besides the way he looks in a towel."

She nodded.

"If you had asked me a year ago, I would have said the same thing about Blaine, but honestly, we weren't good together. I'm honestly happier than I had even considered that I could be. Being with Chandler is just so, so different. I tried to be supportive of both of you and Finn, but off-stage, you two really just have nothing in common. And serious musical chemistry is great for performing together, but Finn doesn't want to be a performer and even if he did, people don't get hired in pairs. Performing with Finn and with Blaine was easy for you. You'll have to step outside your comfort zone. You didn't do that well with me."

"I know. I feel bad about that."

Kurt shrugged and continued to eat.

"Cassandra July hates me. She's my dance instructor."

"Cassie July, the Cassie July?"

"Yes? I guess?"

"Oh, wow." Kurt explained Cassie's history.

"She calls me 'David Schwimmer' or just 'Schwimmer' for short. She calls me out about everything and seems determined to humiliate me in every class."

"You're not going to like what I say, but work twice as hard. Go in during your free time and work on what she calls you out for. My guess is that you're being rebellious and she's not interested in your diva attitude. She knows it won't get you anywhere from personal experience. You aren't the best dancer in your class. There's no way. Given where we lived and what type of dance lessons you had available to you, being the best in Lima means nothing here. You focused on your voice. You've never put five minutes of thought into adding choreography to any of your multitudinous performances in Glee. You got up and sang. But you're not a voice major. Your dance skills need work. Consider people who put as much effort into dance as you did your voice. Cassie July probably teaches those students as well. You are probably in the lowest level dance class available for credit. Stop caring whether you can out-diva Cassie. Work at it like you mean it. If you can't move and dance well, that will cut down on the options for roles. And I would imagine that the class is repeatable, meaning that if you don't master what she's teaching, you'll just be put back in the class next semester to repeat it until you do. You can't move forward in dance without having mastered the movements in each course. This isn't something you have to endure. This is something you have to conquer."

"That would be a nightmare – repeating this class. Ugh."

"You're used to getting people on your side. She really doesn't sound like the type to be swayed, either way. I don't think you can sweet talk your way into her good graces, nor can you out-sass her."

"You're probably right. I just don't enjoy dancing the way I do acting and singing."

"Get better at it. I'm sure you'll find that you like it more if you're more confident in your skills."

She nodded. "How's FIT?"

Kurt told her pretty much the same thing he had told Chandler. "FIT really provides the students with a lot of career-building opportunities. It's not really about being the best in my class or the most recognized student. It's about making professional connections and finding our place in the field we're interested in. That's why we all have internships on top of our classes. Fashion has so many aspects to it that there are lots of different possible paths, which FIT is helping us to explore. Getting to the top of our fields will come after we graduate and move on to actually working."

"I guess that makes sense."

"I expected it to be a little more dog-eat-dog, and we do have a few people who stand out with their attitudes, I don't think it's going to benefit them in the long run. But fashion is a lot more of a solitary pursuit than performing, at least at this point. I'm assuming that once we've made it through the preliminary classes and know everything we need to know to actually create the pieces we envision that it will get more competitive, you know, once we reach the level of being able to enter our work in school fashion shows."

"I get that in a way. Freshmen aren't allowed to audition for the main fall and spring shows at NYADA. We have to work on the production and learn the different aspect of what goes on behind the scenes and we're all put on the crew for the shows under the upperclassmen who actually run the shows."

"That's great though. It really lets you see how everything works together."

She sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

"Going from the big fish to the little fish is a hard transition. I was never anything but a little fish, so it's not a big deal for me, but I can see how this is all very difficult for you. You almost always got you what you wanted at McKinley."

"Everything about being here has been hard." A few tears streamed down her cheeks. "I miss my dads. I miss having my own space. I feel like I'm barely treading water." She put her empty plate back on the tray. She wiped her eyes with a napkin and took a few sips of her tea in an effort to regroup.

"Don't let the roommate issue go on. I'm sure that she in violation of something. If you don't even have a room where you can relax, that's not right. I know you don't think much of the people in the Adam's Apples, but they've all been very kind to me. I'm sure I could find at least one of them who would help you advocate for yourself."

"I'll consider it."

Kurt finished up and put his plate on the tray as well. "I looked at the cost of living on campus. It's not right for your dads to be spending that kind of money and you not to have somewhere you can relax. If you're not willing to advocate to work out the roommate issue, then you should consider looking for a shoebox of your own somewhere near here. It would cost you about the same as the dorm."

She nodded. "Chandler knows that you are Adam are on hugging terms?"

"He does, but even if he didn't, he wouldn't be upset. He knows I love him. He's not insecure or jealous. He knows that no matter how many hugs I give other people, I'm going home to him. He's not like the people we went to school with. He has parents and an extended family who love him, and he was never bullied. He's not innately distrustful. You've really only dated Finn. You tried to seduce him while he was with Quinn. He cheated on Quinn with you. Then we found out that Quinn had cheated on him before that. Then after you'd been together for months and months, you cheated on him on purpose to hurt him for something he had done when the two of you weren't even together. He went back to Quinn and she cheated on Sam with him. They got back together. You tried to sew seeds of doubt in his mind about her faithfulness, which resulted in that travesty of the article in the _Muckraker_. You got back together with him after he broke up with her again. Of course, your relationship was full of jealousy and insecurity. Honestly, I don't know why you and Quinn didn't just date each other and leave Finn out of it."

Rachel blushed. "I've never considered myself anything but straight, but she does get to me. She's so beautiful and amazing and I could never quite figure out if I wanted her or I wanted to be her."

"That makes sense in an odd sort of way." He took a drink of the fresh lemonade he had ordered and fiddled with the straw for a bit. "Look, Rachel. I'm going to be bluntly honest. You're going to have to change how you view the world to make it here. You are too used to being handed what you want. You've been spoiled."

She started to say something.

He continued. "Before you say anything, really think about it. You grew up in a 3-bedroom house with your own en suite bathroom. You had a large living room with an entertainment area that held a grand piano. You had a room in your basement with a sound system and a mini stage for you to practice and perform for your dads. Both of your dads spoiled you. You never worked a day in your life and you had everything you ever wanted, minus something ridiculous like a pony while living in town with no farmland."

She nodded.

"That's not your life anymore. Rachel Berry the spoiled teenaged daughter of two doting dads doesn't exist in New York City. You are now Rachel Berry, freshman at NYADA who has to stand on her own two feet and earn everything she gets. No one will hand you things because you're you. If you want to enjoy your climb to the top, make connections, meet people. Pretend like this is a climb to the top of Mount Everest. You get to the top by working hard and training with people who become your allies. You aren't likely to get to the top of Mount Everest alone, and if you do, being at the top of the world by yourself will ultimately be very lonely."

She sighed and nodded again.

"Plus, what kind of crazy stories about you and your famous friends will you have to put in your memoir if you're alone at the top?"

She rolled her eyes. "That's true." She finally smiled. "In my heart, I know you're right, but getting my mind wrapped around it will be hard."

"Just remember that friends and fans are two completely different groups of people. Make friends now while you have very little to offer people. If you wait until you're famous, it will get to be practically impossible to determine who really wants to be your friend versus who just wants to use you for whatever they can get from you."

"That's a very dark view."

"I see it as realistic. People are drawn to fame."

"Are we friends?"

"We could be, in time."

She nodded. "I want to invite you to Callbacks this Friday night. Brody and some other people from our dorm are going."

"I have a date with Chandler, but we might be able to do both, depending on the time. What is Callbacks?"

"It's a karaoke bar, of sorts. They have a pianist who can play anything on Friday and Saturday evenings. They have the regular karaoke set up as well on weeknights. We're going at 7:00."

"I'll let you know in about an hour. I'm meeting Chandler in about 30 minutes. Isabelle said that I could give Chandler a tour after hours, so we wouldn't bother anyone."

"Who's Isabelle?"

"My boss. Oh! I forgot to mention that I got an internship at Vogue."

"Oh, my God, Kurt. How could you leave that out? Take me with you? Please?"

"Fine. Let's go. You can drop your stuff of in your dorm quickly."

Kurt put their empty cups on the tray and grabbed it. She hugged him as soon as he put the dishes in the bin and the tray on the shelf.

He shook his head and smiled. "Come on, then."


	23. Chapter 23

Chandler was waiting for Kurt outside the Conde Nast building, like they had arranged. He was surprised to see Rachel with Kurt, but he greeted her cordially. "Good evening, Rachel. I take it that you two had a nice dinner?"

"We did, actually. Kurt found a really lovely place that serves vegan and vegetarian food that's only a few blocks from NYADA. It's going to be my new go-to place for my meals that aren't covered by my meal plan."

"Sounds like a winner then," he said. "Ready to give us a tour?"

"I definitely am. This way, if you please."

Kurt took Chandler's hand and Rachel slipped her hand around his arm once they were through the front door. They rode the elevator up and Kurt took them through his department and showed them the conference room, his office, and several more rooms before they reached their final destination. He had to use his employee badge and a pass code to open the door. He opened the double doors and let the other two walk in before him. They didn't make it more than a few steps in before Isabelle Wright, accompanied by two security officers, arrived.

"Kurt!" She said surprised. She dismissed the guards and closed the doors behind her.

"Is there a problem? You said it was okay if I showed Chandler around. We weren't going to touch anything."

"It's Wednesday," she said, as if she had lost track of time. "You're right. I did tell you that you could. I don't usually stay late on Wednesday." She was smiling at both Chandler and Rachel because they looked just like Kurt had the day she showed him around.

"This is Rachel Berry. We went to high school together. She begged to come along when I told her what I was doing after dinner."

Isabelle nodded politely and smiled. "It's nice to meet you Rachel and Chandler."

"You too," Chandler said. He shook her hand.

Rachel smiled and nodded. "Thank you for letting me tag along."

"Certainly."

"What I would give to wear these clothes," Rachel said. "I need a makeover, Kurt. That was something I was going to ask you earlier, but well, it was embarrassing. You always tried to get me to listen to you in high school. The other girls, they were making fun of me."

"Well," Isabelle said, looking at her outfit. "You're are still dressed like a high school student."

"I get that. It's just that my dads aren't going to spring for a new wardrobe just because I want one, but I am finally ready to move on."

"You're ready to give up the animal sweaters and knee socks for good?" Kurt asked pointedly.

She nodded.

"That would definitely a good start," Isabelle said. "Let's see what we can find." She began to look through the racks and started to sing.

The other three began to sing along. Isabelle picked out things for Rachel while Chandler and Kurt tried things on they chose for themselves. Isabelle set up a camera and recorded them. After an hour, they had had their fill of playing dress up. Isabelle turned the camera off.

"Now, I can't honestly let anyone take anything out of the vault, but I do have some things in another room that have been removed from here recently and I could let go of. And Rachel, you and I are the same size. I have quite a collection at home of dresses and shoes that I no longer wear. I honestly have access to so many different things that most of what I have only gets worn for a season. Some of the stuff is five years old, but what I have left are the basics. I already donated the flashier pieces to a charity auction, but if you'd like to look through what I still have, I can bring the items into the office tomorrow. Kurt can bring you back and you can go through them. Bring a suitcase and a garment bag with you. You can take with you what you like and leave the rest. I'll have them dropped off at a high-end thrift store, which also donates their profits to a children's afterschool club."

"You're serious?" Rachel nearly squealed.

"Of course." She smiled warmly at Rachel. "Your hour of need matches up with my five year fall closet clean out. Fashion week ended not quite two weeks ago and I went through my closet the following weekend."

"Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, dear. Now, let's see what we have in here." She opened the door to another clothing storage area. "Let's find one amazing dress and two suits."

* * *

"Just leave what you've picked out and Kurt can take the suits home with him tomorrow. Just bring a garment bag with you. And Rachel can take hers when she comes to pick up the other items tomorrow. For now, I'm taking the three of you out."

They all look surprised.

"It's my treat, not that it's an expensive one. That's the whole point. I want to introduce you to the wonder of Gray's Papaya."

The followed her to her office where she changed into some fashionable, yet functional shoes. They left the building and walked the ten minutes to the shop.

"Rachel and I already ate dinner," Kurt said before they went inside.

"Well, then I know just what I'll order. Maybe Rachel and Chandler can grab a table if someone gets up. You can help me with the drinks." When she got to the front, she ordered the three franks and large tropical drink combo and two small drinks to go with it.

Once they had their order, Kurt dressed two of the hot dogs for Chandler while Isabelle did her own. He carried the tray to the table the other two had managed to get.

"Eleven bucks. This is where you come when your hungry and on a limited budget," Isabelle said. "And when you want a seriously good hot dog." She winked at Chandler.

"I saw the menu," Kurt said. "Coffee for a dollar is a good deal. And three bucks for a nice breakfast sandwich and a coffee is too. I'm sure I'll end up coming by at some point to try the breakfast."

"I like the juice," Rachel said. "I'll definitely grab one if I'm in the area. Thank you so much for tonight. It was a lot of fun. It's been a hard few weeks and this was definitely a feel-good night."

Kurt said, "Rachel has a very difficult roommate situation. I encouraged her to seek out some help from her RA or the school itself."

"Ah, I see. That makes college very hard," she sympathetically. She finished off her drink. "I had a lovely time this evening, but I need to get going. It's been my pleasure to welcome three more people from Ohio to the wonders of cheap tasty food in New York City. I was once a money-strapped college student here. And I've never gotten food poisoning, unlike when I ate at Breadstix." She shook her head and smiled. She stood up. "I'll see you tomorrow, Kurt."

"Thanks for dinner," Chandler said.

"You're welcome. It was nice to meet both of you." She waved as she walked off.

"Well, she's fun," Rachel said. "Thank you for letting me tag along."

"You're welcome."

"She's from Ohio?"

"Columbus, but she's been to Lima. Let's let someone else sit down."

They stood up and moved outside.

"Chandler needs to get to rehearsal. Can you wait just a minute?"

"Sure."

Kurt and Chandler stepped a few feet away. They hugged and kissed before Chandler took off down the street to catch a bus back toward the NYU campus. Kurt walked back to where Rachel was waiting. They began to walk the other direction.

"He's really sweet."

"He is."

"What's he rehearsing for?"

"He's Hook in NYU's production of _Peter Pan._ "

"Oh, wow. That's impressive."

"It is. He's got a great voice."

She was quiet for a while as they walked. "You said that Finn had moved on."

"Yeah. He's dating Janine – Chandler's cousin and best friend. She and I became fast friends and she started hanging out at the house with the three of us, meaning me, Chandler, and Sam. That's how she and Finn met. They've been dating since the 4th of July, so coming up on three months."

She nodded. "At least she sounds nice."

"She is. She's a hometown kind of girl. She's going to college in Lima too."

"Makes sense. I mean I knew that Finn didn't want to live in New York, but I just kept hoping that someone he'd change his mind. You know, that wanting to be with me would be enough. I'm realizing that was wrong of me, but it doesn't really hurt any less. Thinking about it the other way is what helped. It's not because he's not enough that I'm not in Lima. It's just hard when the two things you really wanted aren't mutually attainable. I hope she's good to him."

"She's a lot like Chandler. I think they're really happy together."

She sighed. "Do you think I should give Brody a chance? He flirts with me all the time."

"Why not?"

She paused and considered his respone. "You're right. Why not? I need to push forward and take to heart what you said. I don't have to be ready to marry him and ask him to be the father of my kids next week. I have time. I'll ask him out Friday when we're at Callbacks. Maybe something Isabelle brings tomorrow will be perfect for impressing him."

"You said he flirted with you when you were doing your face-cleansing routine. I don't think you need to dress up to impress him, but of course, it can't hurt." He stopped. "This is where we part ways. I'll see you tomorrow."

She hugged him tight. "Thank you. I'm really sorry for how awful I was. You've always been there for me, except the cat suit, but I rocked that anyway." She stepped back.

"You did. You just weren't ready to embrace the wild side yet." He winked at her.

She waved as they went opposite directions on the platform.

* * *

Friday evening, Kurt and Chandler dressed up and headed to Callbacks to meet up with Rachel, Brody, and the other NYADA students that were going as a group.

Rachel introduced everyone and they pushed a couple of tables together and sat down. It didn't take long for Rachel to flirt her way into getting Brody to get up and sing "Give Your Heart a Break" with her. She looked amazing in one of the black dresses she had gotten from Isabelle. When they came back, she was wired.

"You have to do it, Kurt. It's amazing."

He kept his voice low so only she could hear. "You want me to get up and sing in front of all of your NYADA friends?"

"Yes! Just do it. You'll love it."

He rolled his eyes, but got up and put his name on the list. A few songs later, he was up. He had stepped outside and warmed up a little in the meantime. He got up on stage and turned towards where Chandler was sitting and winked at him.

_If this life is one act,  
Why do we lay all these traps?  
We put them right in our path,  
When he just wanna be free._

_I will not waste my days,  
Making up all kinds of ways,  
To worry 'bout all the things  
That will not happen to me.  
-_

_I can't walk through life facing backwards,  
I have tried.  
I tried more than once to just make sure.  
And I was denied the future I'd been searching for.  
But I spun around and hurt no more._

_By living in the moment,  
Living my life,  
Easy and breezy,  
With peace in my mind.  
With peace in my heart,  
Peace in my soul.  
Wherever I'm going. I'm already home.  
I'm living in the moment._

Kurt went and sat back down, but didn't make it to his chair because Chandler met him and kissed him soundly on the way up to put his name on the list. He sat back down and waited his turn.

When it was his turn, He kissed the side of Kurt's neck just under his ear and said, "One Jason Mraz serenade deserves another."

He picked up a guitar when he got on stage and began to play and sing. Kurt wasn't actually familiar with the song. Some of the lyrics stuck with him.

_When there is love, I can't wait to talk about it.  
When things get rough, I like to walk with you.  
Or when it's night, I like to be the light that missing.  
And remind you every minute of the future isn't written.  
-_

_You are loved, no matter what.  
You know the only time is right now.  
It's right where, where you are.  
You don't need a vacation when  
There's nothing to escape from._

When he got back to his seat, he was met with another hug and kiss. "I don't know that one, but I loved it. Thank you."

Once they were sitting back down, Rachel leaned over and spoke into Kurt's ear. "You're right. He has an amazing voice. You two have to sing together. I'm going to go add my name and yours too." She got up and scurried off before Kurt could say anything.

Before they left to go dancing, they got up and sang Bruno Mars' "Count on Me" they had arranged as a duet with Chandler playing the guitar.

* * *

"Oh, my God, I love it there," Kurt said as he pulled Chandler close and continued dancing with him after he locked their door. "You know the only downside?"

"What?" he asked, as he kissed up Kurt's neck.

"This. You. You drive me wild. It's so hard not to give into temptation and take you in the bathroom sometimes, which I just can't bring myself to do there, but here…" he drew the word out as he pressed closer to Chandler. "We have an amazing bathroom of our very own where I'm not the least bit bothered to undress you and have my way with you."

"Please, please do." He kissed Kurt deeply and desperately. "I'm all yours."

They dropped clothes all the way to the shower.

Kurt started to ask him, "Can I…"

Before he could even finish his question, Chandler answered, "Anything. Surprise me. Please…"

"Yes, of course, honey. You don't have to beg. I love you." Kurt flipped on their icicle lights and stepped into the shower to warm the water up.

Chandler was right behind him. He began kissing up the back of Kurt's neck and hugged him from behind. Kurt hung the sprayer up so they could both get wet before he turned into Chandler's arms and resumed the kissing. They were already both so worked up, it didn't take much. They washed each other's hair and showered quickly and moved to the bedroom where they resumed their activities in their bed since they were both so tired from dancing for several hours to stand up anymore, but not tired enough to give up on making out.

Their franticness abated as they caught their breath again.

Kurt kissed along Chandler's ear. "We need another shower."

"We do," he said, still out of breath. "But if we lay here for just a little while, I'll have enough energy for the shower."

"Good because there's something I want to try in the shower."

"Oh, really? Do tell."

"I think I'd rather show you."

"You drive a hard bargain, but you're so sexy. You know I can't resist you."

Kurt knew he would never tire of hearing Chandler say that he was sexy. It made him actually feel sexy in a way that he never had before. "We have the same problem. I can't resist you either." He ran his hand down Chandler's arm.

Once they had both come down from their high, Chandler said, "I think we need that shower and a snack." Right on cue, his stomach growled loudly.

Kurt laughed, "Now, we can't have you run out of energy, can we?"

* * *

Saturday morning, neither one of them had to go to work, so they took a much needed break from their hectic schedules. Even though they had stayed up much too late the night before, they tried to make sure to not sleep in too long, not wanting to throw their sleep schedules. Once they did finally get up, they opted for an easy breakfast of bananas with peanut butter and set out to make the cheesecake that had been Chandler's plan for Tuesday.

In their nearly three months of living together, they had become like a well-oiled machine in their ability to cook and bake together. Chandler had become a master at prepping everything while Kurt moved through the steps of mixing and blending things while they baked. He had also become quite adept at the art of knowing when to start each part of their dinner to make sure that all parts were hot and able to be served at the same time while Kurt frequently played the role of chopper, dicer, and mincer to keep the process moving smoothly.

Not only did they work well together, they had fun doing it. With Chandler studying musical theatre, he needed some time where music was just for fun so they had started choosing songs to sing together each week and they had added one or two new ones each week, continuing to mix in all of the previous ones. Three months in, they had an hour's worth of songs they could sing as duets any time the mood struck them to do so.

Once they had the cheesecake in the oven, Chandler pulled Kurt into the living room and pointed to the sofa. Kurt tipped his head and looked confused. He sat. Chandler grabbed his laptop and sat down as close to Kurt as he could.

"For the next hour while the cheesecake bakes, I want to take you on a super tiny mini virtual vacation. Name any place in the world that you would like to visit, but think it's super unlikely that you'd ever get to go. Nothing really easy like the Eiffel Tower because I'm sure someday we'll be able to go there."

"Um, let's see. How about Chichén Itzá?"

Chandler looked it up on YouTube and loaded the most popular video. Kurt snuggled in tight and they watched tours, vlogs, and one educational video about the area. When the timer went off, Chandler paused the video and let Kurt get up to pull the cheesecake out. He sat back down and they finished up the video they had been watching.

Kurt turned to kiss Chandler when it finished. "That was fun. Thank you. You still plan the most interesting dates for us. I appreciate that, you know." He kissed him again. "I love you. You pick a place and we'll vacation virtually for another hour or so."

"I know. I once heard or read something about cowboys in Argentina."

* * *

By lunchtime, the cheesecake had chilled and they had opted for eating some bite-sized raw veggies before indulging in feeding each other slices of the cheesecake.

"This is so good," Chandler said. "This is better than any I've ever had anywhere."

"I agree." Kurt opened his mouth, letting Chandler feed him another bite. "How many people are coming this evening?"

"I checked my messages before we sat down and I got six RSVPs."

"Once we move the rest of the cheesecake to the freezer, we can put the drinks back in the fridge. Is there anything else we're supposed to provide?"

"Nope. We have a couple of games and they're bringing a couple others. And we're ordering pizza to make it easy."

"Works for me. I'm looking forward to it. We'll have to try to see if we can find a time to get some of the Apples to come over. They're crazy fun."

"They are." Chandler fed Kurt his last bite and ate his own last bite. He took the fork Kurt was holding, put both of them on the plate, and sat it on the floor. He pulled his feet up onto the couch and gently pushed Kurt down onto his back and kissed him. "Cheesecake kisses," he teased. "We have exactly 12 minutes until we had scheduled ourselves to actually work on schoolwork. I propose 11 minutes of kissing."

"I accept." Kurt wrapped his hand around Chandler's neck and pulled him down and kissed him.

* * *

Seven hours later, after diligently working with breaks only to stretch, they cleared their desks off and changed quickly. Within a couple of minutes the knocks on their door started. Chandler waited until everyone had arrived before he started the introductions. Those who had brought games sat them on the table as they walked past.

They let their guests sit on the sofa and they pulled their desk chairs over and placed them so they were seated in a U shape. They started on the end farthest from Kurt.

Chandler said, "I'll let you all introduce yourselves."

"I'm Shawna Marks. I'm a sophomore Musical Theatre major."

"Jon Harris. Junior. Drama major."

"Lara Santos, freshman, Musical Theatre major."

"Kinzy Jones, freshman, Musical Theatre major. Lara's my girlfriend. We're from Indiana and we're roommates in a dorm. We met at a theatre camp two summers ago. We haven't actually been to anyone's apartment. This is a lot nicer than I had expected. I've heard all sorts of stories about how creepy some of the apartments in the City are."

"We saw some of those places when we were looking online. We searched for a while. When we saw this place, we jumped on it. It was redone recently, as you can tell. We added the closets, but it was a surprise to us to find someplace so nice. We really like it here." He looked to Eileen.

"I'm Eileen Carpenter. I'm a sophomore Musical Theater major."

"Brian Callahan. Freshman. Dance major."

Kurt started back at the beginning. "Shawna, Jon, Lara, Kinzy, Eileen, and Brian. And I'm Kurt Hummel. Freshman. Fashion Design major at FIT and as I'm sure you all know, I'm Chandler's boyfriend. We have drinks in the fridge. Feel free to help yourselves. We can order pizzas whenever everyone's ready."

Chandler said, "Don't underestimate him in a game that has anything to do with musical skill or knowledge. He also got into NYADA."

Several of them raised their eyebrows in understanding and nodded.

"Thanks for the heads up," Brian said good-naturedly. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm starving. Are any of you vegetarian or allergic to anything?" He took it upon himself to get their pizza orders ready. "Where should I order from?" he asked once he had it all figured out.

Kurt handed him his phone and showed him the place and their menu. While they were working out the details, Kurt showed Eileen to the bathroom.

Once they were all back in the room, they divided up into teams and started with charades.

* * *

When they were snuggled up in bed later that night, Kurt wrapped his arms around Chandler and pulled him close into his chest. He sighed. "I don't know how to bring this up because it's never happened to me and maybe I was just reading things wrong, but I kept feeling like Brian kept pushing the limits of my comfort zone. Like when we were playing charades, he kept scooting closer until I just felt uncomfortable and I made up an excuse to get up. He followed me into the kitchen and just stood too close for my comfort. I'm not sure if he's just used to being right in people's personal space, but I didn't like it."

"He's a little touchy-feely, but he's never stepped over any lines with me. He's the same way with the girls, so I guess I've just seen it as 'him' and how he is. But we don't have to invite him back. He's in a bunch of scenes with me in the musical, even though he's not really a singer. He's a fantastic dancer, so he's great with all of the choreographed dancing and fighting. But he's not in any of my classes at school. I can just not invite him over again. The musical will be over in four weeks, so I won't see him after that really. I'm sad that he made you so tense. I wanted tonight to be a lot of fun."

"I really liked Kenzy and Lara. Let's invite them to do something again. Maybe we can just invite them to Callbacks. Maybe Adam and some of the Apples would go too. I think they'd would fit in great with the Apples."

"You're right. They would. We can look at our schedules and see when we can go." He pushed up in the bed enough that he could kiss Kurt. "I'll invite a completely different group of people the next time. That way, Brian won't feel like I intentionally left him out."

"Sure."

"I love you and I won't bring anyone here that makes you feel uncomfortable like that."

"I know you didn't do it on purpose. And like I said, I could have just been misreading him. I don't know him at all. And I love you too."

Chandler snuggled back into Kurt's chest and they both fell asleep quickly.

* * *

The next two weeks passed by in a blur as both of them still adjusted to their busy schedules. Sebastian and Adrien arrived a little after 8:00. They changed quickly and headed out to Callbacks before heading to the same club that they had gone to a few weeks back. By the time they got back to the apartment, they were all tired. Kurt and Chandler had prepared ahead of time and had already turned the sectional into a bed before they arrived and had some pinwheel sandwiches ready to snack on when they got back.

The next morning, Kurt got up and quietly prepared breakfast for everyone. They smell woke everyone up.

"Grab the desk chairs and bring them in here," Kurt said. "I set everything buffet style on the counter since the table doesn't have a lot of room except for our plates."

Sebastian hugged him. "You made fluffy, American-style pancakes. I love you, you know."

"You're sappy when you're sleepy," Kurt teased him. "I even put chocolate chips in half of them, just for you."

"See now, I know you love me too, even though you won't say it." Sebastian put two chocolate chip pancakes on his plate and served himself some eggs and sausage too. He sat down at the table and waited for everyone else to be ready to eat. "These are so good." He moaned. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Kurt said, smiling at him.

Chandler said, "So, we're headed to the Museum of Natural History today, right?"

"That's the plan," Adrien said. "I'm excited. It will be fun to go there because _Night at the Museum_ was filmed there, but I really just love fossils and all of that stuff. I've been looking forward to it for months."

"Well, we haven't been since we've been planning to go with you, so we're excited too," Chandler said. "How's school going this year?"

"Not so well," Sebastian said, as he let out a huff. "The school brought in a new guy on scholarship to supposedly lead the Warblers to Nationals."

Kurt said, "I'm sensing a 'but'…"

"But he's a jackass who thinks he's God's gift to the world. He's condescending and arrogant and he's intimidating the younger Warblers. We've already had a couple of them try to quit. I took them aside and asked them not to, but something's going on and I don't know what. In my desire to lead the group more effectively by disbanding the council because it stalled every decision-making process, my lapses in judgment created the means by which Hunter has a vice-grip on the group."

"Hunter?"

"Hunter Clarington." Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Never mention the word Splenda in his presence."

Kurt and Chandler looked perplexed.

"It brings on a rant of epic proportions about how he swears that Splenda is nothing more than all of the old-fashioned wood pencils that no one buys anymore ground up into microcrystalline pieces and marketed as a non-calorie sweetener."

"I see," Kurt said, barely restraining himself from laughing. "Wait. You're serious?"

"Absolutely. Anyway, our songs are sounding really good, but the feel of the group is just off."

"Have you tried getting one of the freshmen or sophomores off campus so you can talk to them?"

"No, but you've given me an idea. Trent stopped coming to practice this week, claiming that his throat was bothering him and he had sprained his ankle."

"That's very un-Trent-like. He's a really dedicated member of the group. I would think he'd come and watch just to make sure he didn't miss any changes that were made."

"I'm going to talk to him when we get back. Actually, maybe I'll text him later. He might be more inclined to talk away from school if his absence has something to do with Hunter."

They enjoyed their day at the museum. When they left, they decided to take a short walk in Central Park before heading back to the apartment. While they were out walking, Sebastian's phone rang.

"Hey, Trent. Thanks for calling me back. I wanted to see how you're feeling. Hunter said you didn't come to practice this week because you had a sore throat and you had sprained your ankle. I figured you must have been feeling really bad not to even come and watch the practices."

The group moved to an area with some benches and sat down.

"Oh," Trent stalled, not knowing what to say. "Um, yeah. I'm feeling much better now, but I've, uh, realized that I don't really have time for the Warblers this year. I love being in the group, but I, uh, need to, uh, focus on all of my AP classes so I can get 5s on all of the tests."

"Look, Trent. I dislike Hunter as much as the next person. I've been trying to keep the group from disbanding due to lack of members. I've practically begged some of the younger guys not to quit."

"You did what?" Trent sounded alarmed.

"I begged them not to quit."

"Oh, God. I can't do this." He paused and took a deep breath. "He's telling the younger guys that they have to take this specialized vitamin injection in order to participate. I refused. I have a medical condition that I don't wish to disclose that would make me taking unknown vitamins really dangerous. He told me that I could either give in and get an injection last weekend or I could quit. But then I ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time last weekend when I went to find him to tell him that I would quit before submitting to the injections. I saw him removing the labels from the little bottles with the solution in them. They were steroids. He saw me see him. He told me that I had to quit and come up with a good reason or he'd make sure that I ended up with them in my system if I told anyone."

Sebastian was speechless. "So, I encouraged those students to let Hunter inject them with steroids? I think I'm going to be sick." He took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

"I have worse news. He's told all of those guys that you're getting the shots too, so when you approached them, you came off as his right hand man."

"If I can come up with a plan, will you back me up at testify against him? You won't be able to know the plan of course. Just one day, you'll have to be ready to tell the truth when the situation arises."

"Yeah. The Warblers are a time-honored part of Dalton. My dad and grandpa were Warblers. I'll just pretend like this conversation never happened until you've figured out what to do."

"I'll move as quickly as I can. We only have five weeks until Sectionals. I'm no expert on steroid use, but I know there's a withdrawal period. That's going to cut down on our ability to rehearse." He sighed loudly. "Thanks for telling me the truth and trusting me."

"Thanks for trying to fix it. And I'm sorry for believing him that you were in on it."

"I get that. In your place, I would have believed him too. I'll let you go. I've got a lot of thinking to do."

"See ya."

Sebastian recounted what Trent had told him.

"What a mess," Chandler said.

Kurt was quiet. "I think the only chance you probably have is to get your dad involved. If you tell him what's going on, he could be there Wednesday morning to tell the Headmaster what has been happening. I don't think you can face him in rehearsal Wednesday afternoon and make it through without him picking up on something from you."

"Let's walk and I'll call my dad."

* * *

The four of them spent the day on Sunday going to a few places they all wanted to see. Sunday evening they stayed in and played games and just enjoyed talking and catching up more.

Monday and Tuesday, Kurt and Chandler had to go back to school and work. Adrien and Sebastian went to the Statue of Liberty and the most iconic places that Kurt and Chandler had already visited.

Over the summer, Sebastian had asked his mom to help him find a place that served real French food in the City, which is where they met up and had one last dinner together. Sebastian and Adrien brought their bags with them and checked them in at the coatroom while they ate. When they finished eating, Sebastian insisted on paying for everyone, courtesy of his dad's generosity.

The four of them hugged outside the restaurant.

"We're really glad you came," Kurt said. "I know it's selfish, but I would love for the two of you to decide to go to school here, but I know it's not likely."

"We're still considering our options," Adrien said.

Sebastian added, "We're going to apply here and in France. We don't know for sure what we'll want nearly a year from now, and we don't want to limit our options."

Chandler said, "Once you've done more research, you could come back in the spring and do the campus visits. You're always welcome to stay with us and we'd love to see you any time you can come."

Kurt stepped to the curb and hailed a taxi to take them to the airport. Kurt and Chandler waved as they rode off.

* * *

Kurt answered his phone when it rang the next morning when he was walking to work.

"All of the Warblers were escorted to the practice room at 6:30 this morning. As soon as Hunter walked out of his room this morning, he was escorted to the Headmaster's office, where he was met by uniformed officers. He was cuffed and led out of the building into a squad car. He's already 18, so he was booked in the Westerville jail. Everyone was drug tested. None of us will be punished. Those who test positive will go through rehab. We'll still be able to perform at Sectionals. I have to go. I have to get to class. I'll call you later."


	24. Chapter 24

After hosting Sebastian and Adrien, Kurt and Chandler buckled down on their assignments to work ahead since Sharon and James would arrive in less than two weeks later.

Thursday afternoon, Kurt headed away from Vogue when he got off and decided that a trip back to Gray's Papaya was in order. He had just managed to get through the line and sit down when he noticed Brian in the line. He considered getting up and leaving, but he decided to just wait for Brian to leave first, hoping to not be seen. Unfortunately for him, Brian saw him. He approached Kurt's table and surveyed the space and saw no empty tables.

"Mind if I join you? Everywhere is taken."

"Sure," he said, wishing he had some other option. He focused on eating, rather than lingering.

"I had a good time when we came over. Maybe we can do it again sometime."

"Maybe. We're having several out-of-state visitors over the next few weeks, so I'm not sure when we'll have time."

Brian nodded.

Kurt managed to finish. He stood up. "I just sat long enough to not have to dodge people while eating." He grabbed his trash and drink and got up.

Brian didn't hesitate to stuff the rest of his danish in his mouth and follow Kurt to the trashcan. He managed to get out "Me too." And ended up following Kurt out onto the sidewalk. Kurt didn't want to make a scene, so he walked to the closest subway station. Brian tagged along.

Once they went down into the station, Kurt stood as if he were taking the train back towards FIT and waited for Brian to board the train he actually needed to take back towards NYU, which was actually the same train Kurt needed to take, but he was glad enough to get rid of him that having to waiting was better than getting on the same train with him. Kurt moved to the correct platform and waited.

He got off and headed to Ikea on foot. Since he had lost the natural light he had over the summer and early fall, he went through the lighting section carefully to find what he needed to make the living room bright enough to work on his projects in the evenings.

* * *

Chandler came in later that evening to the very brightly lit living room. "That's some light you got."

Kurt turned on him, and using a gravelly voice, he said, "All the better to see you with, my dear."

Chandler cracked up. He walked over to Kurt's desk and wrapped his arms around Kurt's shoulders, letting his arms drape down onto Kurt's chest. He kissed him on the neck before he slipped between Kurt and his desk, pushing Kurt's chair back a little to make room for himself. He sat down in Kurt's lap and curled into him and put his head on Kurt's shoulder while wrapping his arms around Kurt's neck. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I missed you today."

Kurt wrapped his arms around Chandler and held him close. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes and no."

Kurt ran his hands along Chandler's back the way he liked and gave him time to answer.

"I'm just feeling sorry for myself I think. I miss this summer when we had more time together. I just want to snuggle. Any chance you have room in your schedule for an unplanned snuggle?"

It wouldn't have mattered to Kurt if he didn't, he was going to give Chandler what he was asking for. "Of course. Let's go shower and go to bed."

"Best idea I've heard all day." He leaned back enough to kiss Kurt, slow and sweet. "I love you."

Kurt placed one gentle kiss on Chandler's lips. "I love you too."

Chandler got up and sat down on the sofa where Queenie was lying. "I missed you too, beautiful." He stroked along Queenie's back and closed his eyes.

Kurt quickly stacked up what he had been working on, but left it out to work on it again in the morning. "I'm ready when you are."

Chandler took a deep breath. "You can come snuggle with us in the bed in a little bit," he said sweetly. He ran his hand down her back one last time before he followed Kurt to the bathroom.

A half-hour later, the three of them were snuggled together in the dark. Both Kurt and Queenie were lying on Chandler.

"Better?"

"SO much better." He turned just enough to kiss Kurt on the top of his head. "It doesn't get any better than snuggles with my beautiful Queenie and my handsome prince."

Kurt smiled. "Your prince, hmm?"

"Of course. I'm hoping that I'm yours too."

Kurt wanted to move away from the term because of his association with Blaine being called his Prince Charming. "I think maybe we're knights. Neither of us being of noble birth, but finding favor with the Queen, who has granted us titles at her discretion, overlooking others who have sought such distinction."

Chandler chuckled. "That does make a bit more sense. She is quite persnickety about who she lets close to her."

"I'm glad she likes me. I'm totally smitten. She's just so beautiful and sweet."

"She is. And she more than likes you. She loves you." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Thanks for stopping what you were doing."

"You're welcome. I needed this too. I just didn't know it. I love you. I'd move to kiss you, but I want Queenie to stay."

"I love you too."

* * *

Saturday after he got off from work, Kurt texted Chandler to let him know that he was done, and then took the bus to the closest corner he could get to Trader Joe's. He had made it about halfway through the store when Brian came around the corner and nearly crashed his cart into Kurt's, which made him look up.

"Sorry. Oh, hey, Kurt. Sorry about that. I should do a better job of looking around the corner."

"Perhaps, I should refrain from having my cart stopped just out of view. No big deal." Kurt went back to look in the frozen case for what he had on his list.

Brian looked him up and down curiously. "You look really different today."

"Thanks?" Kurt tried to ignore him and move on with his shopping. He pushed his cart around to the next aisle, deciding that he would double-back and come up the aisle he was in again later.

Unfortunately, Brian caught him coming up the aisle he was going down. "I see you're stocking up for your guests."

Kurt nodded. "Chandler and I won't be any less busy with school and work just because his parents are coming. And I don't want them to have to do a bunch of cooking on their first trip to New York City."

"Of course not. I'm assuming they're coming to see _Peter Pan_."

"Mmm hmm. If you'll excuse me, I've got to keep moving. I've got other things on my to-do list for today." Kurt pushed his cart past Brian and went back into the freezer aisle to get what he hadn't picked when he left the aisle to avoid Brian. He skipped the aisle he had already gone down and turned to face Brian, yet again.

Brian smiled. "We meet again."

"So we do." Kurt kept going and looked at his list to finish up as quickly as possible. He got in line.

Brian got in line right behind him. Kurt took a deep breath and pulled his phone back out and sent a few texts to try to keep Brian from talking to him again. He texted Mercedes, Quinn, and Rachel. Only Rachel responded right away. He called her back.

"Hey, Kurt. I finally took your advice early last week. I went to my RA first. She sat down with the two of us last Wednesday and created a schedule like you talked about might work. Kyleigh rolled her eyes enough that I thought she might sprain them, but she signed the agreement. So far, so good. It's only been a little over a week, but hopefully she sticks to it. The form says that if she breaks the agreement, the matter will move up to the housing department, which can revoke her ability to sign people in and out of the building. That would cost her most of her potential guests. She was also reminded that the penalty for non-dorming overnight guests without prior approval of the housing department is losing her dorming privilege."

"Well, that's good news."

"Yes. Oh, and you'll be proud of me, sort of."

"Sort of?"

"I packed up all of my animal sweaters and knee socks that I brought with me and sent them back to Lima this morning after I came back from breakfast and an amazing makeover with Isabelle. She and I talked a lot. She's really sweet. She took me to this place where a guy showed me how to look more mature without overdoing it. I kept my plaid skirts. They work well over my new black leotards and tights. I still need to go shopping for some cardigans or hooded sweaters that zip maybe? Say you'll come with me."

"I'll come with you. I know just the place. I have a couple of hours later." Kurt moved up so that he was next in line. "I have to run. I'm up next at the grocery. I'll call you back."

Kurt helped the bagger get his stuff packed quickly, so he could get out of the store sooner. Unfortunately, Chandler wasn't there when he got outside. He texted him again, but didn't get a response. Brian came out with a single back of groceries.

"Do you want some help? I can help you carry those back to your place."

"No, thanks. I'm fine. Chandler will be here soon."

"It's no trouble. You only live about a mile from here."

"I'm fine, but thanks."

"Alright, then. See ya."

After waiting ten minutes, Kurt gave up and hailed a taxi. He ended up spending what he had saved by shopping at Trader Joe's on the taxi fare. Once he got everything up into their place and put away, he texted Chandler again, but still got no response. He went ahead and started on the meal prep they usually did together.

Once he finished, he looked through his schedule. He texted Rachel and gave her an address and a time to meet him and sat down to get one thing done he could finish in a short period of time. When he had nearly finished the short essay he had to write, he heard Chandler coming in. Kurt got up to greet him. He was soaked and looked rough.

"Honey, what happened?"

"After study group, I went to the fabric store and found what I needed, but when I got to the line to pay, my wallet wasn't in my bag. And neither was my phone." Chandler washed his hands and filled a glass with water and drank the whole thing. "I went back to the coffee shop where our study group had met, which was a 20-minute walk from the fabric store in the opposite direction of here. I had taken the subway there earlier, so I knew I hadn't left them here at home. I didn't even buy anything there, but I checked just in case they had fallen out somehow, but they didn't have them. I had to walk home. It took me an hour a half of walking, plus I stopped twice when it started to rain hard about a half hour ago. It's stopped again now. I'm going to go take a shower and use my laptop to try to track my phone down. I'm sorry I didn't make it to the store to help bring everything home."

"Don't worry about that. I've been worried about you. I called several times and sent texts." Kurt reached for him. "I'm just glad you're okay."

Chandler stepped back. "I'll hug you when I get out of these wet clothes. I'll be right back."

Kurt finished his essay and powered his laptop down.

* * *

Rachel looked confused. "So, someone stole your wallet and phone, took the $20 bill you had in it, and then left it at the Starbucks down the street from here saying he found them, but didn't want to deal with returning them to the owner?"

"That's what they manager told us when we got there to pick it up," Chandler said.

"That is the weirdest story."

Chandler said, "Maybe once he saw that I only had $20 in cash and no credit cards, he realized he couldn't play the I-found-your-phone-and-wallet-and-I'll-return-it-for-a-reward scam with me. I'm not sure, but I'm glad to have it back. I'm going to go get a small lock for my bag after we finish shopping with you."

"Don't you have some cardigans already, Rachel?" Kurt asked.

"A few thin colorful ones, but I'm looking to for something a little edgy, you know to go with these amazing chunky-heeled black and silver Mary Janes that Isabelle gave me. They're really comfortable." She stuck her foot out to show them.

"Got it," Kurt said.

They went inside and began to look around.

"I already bought a selection of black fitted sleeveless and cap-sleeved shirts to wear either over my leotard or to put on after I shower. So, I'd love to find…"

Kurt pulled out a dark gray cardigan with silver threads running through it.

"That. Definitely that," she said. "And maybe another silver gray one and a black one too."

Chandler joined in on the search. He pulled out a quilted puffer vest in black with a silver and black fur collar and a stainless zipper with silver trim on the pockets.

"You are as much of a good luck charm as Kurt," she hugged him.

He was startled, but hugged her back.

She put the sweater on with the vest over the top and went to look in the mirror. "These are perfect. I don't have far to walk outside, so wearing a bulky coat and carrying it around all day will be a pain. This will be perfect."

They continued to look around for a few minutes, but didn't find anything else. Rachel paid and opted to wear the sweater.

"I know of one more place not far from here, but then Chandler and I have to go. Chandler's phone and wallet getting stolen cost us a lot of study time."

She nodded. "Thanks for helping me. Lead the way."

Kurt opened the door and let Rachel and Chandler walk through. "Did you ever get up the nerve to ask Brody out?" Kurt asked, as Rachel walked past. "I have something to tell you about him."

"I have something to tell you too, but you first."

"Well, one of the Apples told me that she had seen you hanging around with him and told me to tell you that he's a nice guy, but he only does open relationships."

"Oh. I'm not sure I even understand what that means."

"She means that he's a nice person," Kurt added. "He just doesn't do monogamous relationships."

"Oh. Well, I stayed longer in the showers one day this week and when I came out, he and Miss July were a little cozier than I was comfortable with. I don't think either one of them saw me."

"Cozier?" Chandler inquired.

"Well, she could have been performing CPR on him against the mirror, but it seems unlikely. Fortunately for me, they both had their eyes closed."

"I see," Kurt said. He opened the door to the next shop.

"On a happier note, Quinn is coming next weekend. We're going to see _Wicked_. I've seen it before, but she hasn't. And I love it so much I could go every week."

"That sounds like fun," Chandler said.

"I think so. We're going to come watch _Peter Pan_ too. I'm interested in seeing how NYADA's and NYU's productions compare. Although, our musical won't be until the spring."

Chandler split off to look through the racks while the other two kept talking.

"I can't wait to see _Peter Pan_. They have closed rehearsals and I haven't even gotten a peek at what they're doing. Where is she staying?"

"With me. I filled out the forms and got approved for her to stay in my dorm. Kyleigh is going on a trip somewhere upstate for the weekend."

"That will save her a lot of money. I'd offer to let her stay with us, but Chandler's parents will be here."

"Maybe another time, if she comes back. I'm planning to go out to New Haven in November. We'll see. We've both grown up a lot, but who knows whether we can get along."

Chandler returned with a chunky, funky zip-up black hooded sweater. Rachel gave him a big smile and tried it on. She nodded and gave it back for him to hold.

Kurt said, "I'm sure you can get along better now that Finn's out of the picture. Whether you can become real friends, only time will tell."

Rachel slipped a silver gray cardigan on. "Ooh, the sleeves are so itchy, but I love the way it looks."

Kurt turned to look at her. "It's only lined through the body. You could line the sleeves so they won't itch."

"You mean you could do that. I can't. That's for sure. I really like that black one Chandler found. Too bad it doesn't have any silver on it."

He took a deep breath. "Ask me nicely instead of trying to get me to offer to do it for you. You can come with me to the fabric store and get what you need. I have to go there next anyway to get what Chandler needs for his costume that he couldn't get earlier when he went because his wallet had been stolen."

"Kurt, will you line the sleeves of this sweater and maybe add some silver accents to the solid black one for me?" she asked sweetly.

"I'll do it, but as repayment, we have to go sing in one of the auditoriums after we go the fabric store _and_ you're buying dinner the next time we go out."

"It's a deal." She got in line and paid for both sweaters.

Once, they were back outside, Rachel surprised Chandler by throwing her arms around him. "Thanks for coming." She let go as quickly as she had initiated the hug.

Chandler, still chuckling, turned to Kurt. They hugged and kissed before they went their separate ways.

Rachel wrapped her arm through Kurt's. "I like him. A lot. He's really genuinely sweet. When you're not looking and he sees you, his look just softens and he smiles. I'm glad for you."

"I'm glad for me too."

* * *

Chandler got home and found Brian sitting on the stairs inside their building. "Brian?"

He looked up and smiled, "Hey, Chandler. I was in the neighborhood. I thought maybe you and Kurt would agree to have dinner with me before we head to final fitting this evening."

"Well, Kurt won't be here for a while, but I suppose you could come on up if you can entertain yourself until he gets here. I've got some work I have to do."

"Oh, yeah. Sure. I've got the novel we're reading in my English class with me. I can read part of that." Brian got up and followed Chandler up the stairs. "I like your new backpack."

"Oh, thanks. My old one needed an upgrade. This one has lots of internal pockets."

"I've never seen double zippers with the lock holes like that except on suitcases."

"I picked it because of the locking zippers and because the fabric is knife-proof. It came with a plastic-covered wire cutter-proof lock like a bicycle lock, but much shorter, so I can lock it to chairs."

When they got to the top of the stairs, Chandler saw Brian's confused look.

"My wallet and phone were stolen earlier today. I had to walk back from south of campus. I got them back, but the cash I had in my wallet was gone."

"Oh, that's terrible. Maybe I should get a backpack like that."

"It couldn't hurt." He opened the door and let Brian in. "Make yourself at home. I'll be back out in a sec." He slipped into the bathroom and texted Kurt.

-Text me when you're 10 minutes away and tell me to meet you at the taquería. I'll explain later. I love you.

He flushed the toilet and washed his hands. When he came out of the bathroom, Brian was in their bedroom instead of the living room. Chandler stopped at the doorway.

"The living room is the other way."

"I know. I, um, just love Kurt's clothes. The closet was open. I, um, just peeked inside. Working at Vogue must be really cool."

"He likes it. Let's go back in the living room." He took a step back into the kitchen and waited for Brian to walk past.

They settled into a quiet study mode until Chandler's phone pinged with the text that he had asked Kurt to send.

He turned around to face Brian. "That was Kurt. He wants to go out for tacos."

"Oh, um, sure. Sounds good." He got up and stuffed his book into his messenger bag.

Chandler called Kurt instead of texting him. "Hey, Kurt. Tacos sound great. We'll meet you there in 10 minutes. Brian stopped by when he was in the neighborhood a little earlier."

Kurt was not happy, but he didn't say anything to let on his discomfort with the situation. "Okay, honey. I'll see you two soon."

Chandler grabbed his backpack and pulled out the textbooks he didn't need with him and folded his jacket and put it inside. "After you." He ushered Brian to the door. He grabbed their picnic bag from the back of the door and put it in his backpack. He locked the door behind him on the way out.

While they waited for their food, Chandler looked up any place they could eat that didn't involve going back to the apartment or going farther away from the subway. Once they had their food, he led them to the place he'd found. He pulled out their picnic stuff.

"Oh, good. You grabbed it." Kurt took the bag, put the tablecloth on, and sat down.

It was a perfunctory dinner due to time constraints and Kurt's lack of interest in it dragging out, but they did talk a little bit about the musical.

Once they finished, Kurt gave Chandler the bag from the fabric store. "I need to get going. I've got to get back to working on my projects." He folded the tablecloth up and took the bag with him.

Chandler stood up as well and gave him a hug. "I'll see you when I get home later."

"I'll be up."

* * *

Sunday morning, Kurt flitted around the kitchen making a fabulous vegetarian brunch.

Chandler came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Kurt. "You're in a good mood."

Kurt turned in his arms. "Rachel's not being awful to me anymore and she's a lot more fun than she was in high school. We were never really rivals, but she always made us out to be. But now that I've gone into fashion, she's dropped the 'I'm better than you.' attitude. It's just nice."

"I'm glad. I like seeing you happy after the disaster that was yesterday."

Kurt sighed. "I don't want Brian in the apartment anymore."

"You said that last night."

He turned in Chandler's arms. "But I'm repeating it now. No more. If he's here waiting on either one of us, we're going to give him some reason why we just stopped by to grab something and he can wait downstairs, preferably outside. Or better yet, tell him to call before he comes by."

"I'll do that."

"I feel like washing all of my clothes, but some of that stuff is dry clean only and I don't have two weeks of extra time to spend doing extra loads of clothes." He kissed Chandler. "I'm not upset with you. And I'm going to let this slide, but no more access to our sanctuary. This is our home."

Chandler kissed him and held him close. "It is. How can I help with breakfast?"

Kurt gave him some directions and they worked together. Everything was ready just a few minutes before Rachel knocked on the door. Kurt let her in. Chandler handed her a plate and let her go first. They sat down and chitchatted while they ate. Kurt saw Chandler out when they finished eating. He sat back down with Rachel afterwards.

"I'll pack up a few of the muffins and send with you," he offered.

She smiled and nodded. "Thanks. They're delicious. Cinnamon applesauce muffins are perfect for the fall. I'll help you clean up."

Ten minutes later, they were in the living room.

Rachel slipped the sweater on. "It's perfect now, Kurt. Thank you."

"You're welcome. You seem a lot more relaxed since we first met up–" He stopped to think. "a little over three weeks ago."

"It's amazing what getting eight hours of uninterrupted sleep will do for you. It's been a nice weekend too."

"Did you bring some schoolwork? Or are you going to head back?"

"I'll stay for a couple of hours, if that's okay with you. You haven't given me the tour yet either."

"Alright, let's get to that first."

* * *

Chandler's tech week schedule barely gave him enough time to sleep each night, work his shifts, and go to class and rehearsals. Since he wasn't going to have a break, Kurt went to meet up with him on campus Monday after he left Vogue. He went to NYU's bookstore to pick up a book that had been out of stock at the beginning of the semester that Chandler needed for one of his classes. He picked up a copy and turned around and nearly tripped over Brian.

"Kurt, what a surprise to see you here."

"Indeed," he said, barely keeping the ice tone out of his voice. "If you'll excuse me." He stepped to walk around Brian to get to the check out.

Brian followed along behind. "Couldn't Chandler have gotten that himself?"

"I'm meeting him for a date between his last class and rehearsal."

"That's really nice."

Kurt paid for the book and put it in his bag. "I hope so. I need to run now." Kurt walked away, but then turned back. He had had enough of Brian and was determined to figure out what was going on. When he turned back he saw Brian pushing a cart and putting some books on the shelf. He walked back towards him and realized that he was wearing an NYU Bookstore employee shirt.

"Hey, Brian? How soon until you get off?"

"In 10 minutes."

"Could we talk?"

"Sure."

* * *

Kurt led the way to an outdoor area with picnic benches. He motioned for Brian to choose a spot. Kurt sat opposite him. "I'm going to be really blunt. You're behavior makes me tense. You keep popping up in places unexpectedly. And your behavior with my clothes was way out of line. I don't understand."

"Oh. I'm sorry." He took a deep breath. "How I've, um, known where to run into you is when you, um, let me use your phone that night at your place, I, um, added you to my friends on my phone." Every time he said "um", he either zipped his hoodie up four inches or down four inches. "I, um, can see where you are on the app. I, um, did it with my friends in high school. My therapist, um, helped me come up with the idea. Well, she, um, didn't tell me to do it, but something she, um, said made me come up with the idea. I'm autistic and I, um, have trouble with social interaction. I, um, usually get so tongue-tied that I, um, give up and walk away. I, um, practiced things for a week before I, um, came to your place that evening."

"Back to the therapist and tracking me on my phone…"

"Oh, yeah. I, um, realized that I, um, accidentally ran into someone I, um, didn't have to call them or plan ahead with them. I, um, made friends this way in high school. I'd, um, join a club someone I, um, admired was in. I'd, um, hang around enough that I'd, um get invited to stuff. If I, um, prepare myself enough, I, um, can keep my interactions seeming more normal. Most of my friends were, um, in my advanced classes and they, um, liked the same things I did. My, um, other friends were mostly girls from my dance classes. I, um, was really popular there because I'm, um, such a good dancer, they all, um, wanted me to pick them for pieces to partner with them. But here, my roommate, um, he doesn't like me. And, um, he's just really unpleasant. I've, um, been here eight weeks, and I, um, haven't made any friends. My new therapist here, he, um, told me something similar. He, um, said to go to where there are people I'd, um, like to be friends with, so I've been trying with you and Chandler. He's so, um, nice, and you're, um, really funny and I, um, just really like your style."

Kurt's heart dropped. He had completely misjudged, but he was still uncomfortable with the idea of Brian basically using his phone to track him. "At our place, you seemed much more calm than you are right now."

"Yeah, I, um, went over possible scenarios with my therapist. He's the one that suggested that I, um, try to be the one to find out what pizzas everyone wanted. I, um, have a really good memory. And I, um, asked Chandler what games you had that we, um, might play and I, um, studied the rules really carefully, so I, um, wouldn't look stupid."

"Dancing in front of people doesn't make you nervous?"

"Not at all. I, um, I've been dancing since I was three, which was before I could talk. Movement is, um, like my first language, I guess. Are you, um, angry with me about the phone and the closet? I, um, don't read non-verbal clues very well. I, um, try my best, and I'm, um, better at it than I used to be."

"What I am is frustrated. Is it okay with you for me to tell you how I felt about your behavior?"

"Please do. I'm, um, trying really hard to make this work. My, um, parents they didn't want me to move here by myself. But I, um, really want to be a dancer and a choreographer."

"Well, one thing I will say is that you don't leave enough space between us. But now that I think about it, that may be as much you as it is me. My version of personal space is somewhat larger than other people, so I tried to let it slide."

"Why is your personal space larger?"

"I was bullied. I kept my distance farther than arm's reach if possible. It gave me a better chance of anticipating what was going to happen."

"Why would you be bullied? You're funny and good looking and you dress nice."

"I'm gay."

"I'm asexual." Brian offered in response, not realizing that Kurt was offering the reason he had been bullied.

"Oh. I'm not really familiar with what that means exactly. Do you not want to date or get married?"

"I, um, would actually like to date and get married, but I not interested in the sexual component of that type of relationship, so I've, um, figured that I'd, um, just end up single. Oh, but I would want to marry a guy."

Kurt refocused. "I was bullied because I was gay."

"Oh. I went to a magnet school that had a zero-tolerance bullying policy."

"I went to a private school for about five months when it got really bad and one of them threatened to kill me."

"That's terrible."

"How about we start over? I'll show you how close you can stand to me before I get uncomfortable."

"Really? You're, um, not just going to tell me to leave you alone? That's where I, um, thought this was headed."

"It was, but then you changed my mind. I realized that my experiences clouded my perceptions. You asked about the phone and the closet."

"Yes."

"You should ask people before you add them to your Find Your Friends app."

"Okay."

"And now that I think about it, you walking into our room isn't as weird as I had considered it to be. We're the same age and you treated our room like a dorm room or a bedroom in a friend's parents' home in high school. I get it now. And the closet was open from what you said. Now, that we're living on our own, a person's bedroom is more like your friends' parents' bedrooms were."

"A place to not go in."

"Unless, someone specifically says to."

"I can do that."

"Again, I think this is partly on me. I won't get into why I have a personal hang-up with it, but in the future, just don't go in our room unless I ask you to."

"Alright."

"I have some people I want you to meet. Can you meet me next Monday at 3:00 at NYADA?"

"Yes." He sent Kurt a text so he'd have his number. "I'll, um, send you a link about asexuality, if you want. I, um, didn't do a very good job explaining it."

"Sure. Would you be interested in helping a friend of mine with her dance skills?"

"What type of dance?"

"Ballet I think. She goes to NYADA."

"Cassie July is harassing her."

"Yes. Rachel is an amazing singer. She's a good actress, but she's just a passable dancer compared to everyone in her class. She wants to improve."

"I'm the opposite. I'm a passable singer, but I'd like to be better. Maybe we can trade. She can help me improve my singing."

"I'm sure she would think that's a fair trade. Let me text her."

-Can you leave NYADA now and meet me at Indochine near NYU for dinner? I have someone I want you to meet. I'm pretty sure that he can help you with your Cassie July problem and he won't hit on you, so you'll be able to focus. He wants to improve his singing.

-I was studying, but I can leave now. Midterms are this week. I need all the help I can get. I'll be there in 20 minutes.

"Okay. Rachel's going to meet us at Indochine."

"Is that a restaurant?"

"It is." Kurt stood up. "Let's get moving."

Brian got up and walked with him.

"Let's see. Quick run down. You won't have to worry about what to say. Rachel will talk your ear off. What else? Umm, she's vegetarian."

"So am I."

"Well, then you'll have two things to talk about right off. She's very passionate about her dietary choices. If you like musical theatre at all, she can talk about that all day."

"Alright. Can I, um, ask you a favor? I'd like to get some clothes that I like more than the ones I have. I'm, um, terrible at shopping. I get tongue-tied. Do you, um, think you could help me?"

"Absolutely. Makeovers are like crack to me."

Brian laughed.


	25. Chapter 25

Tuesday, Kurt's schedule was as busy as Chandler's. They only saw each other in the few minutes before they both rushed out to get to work that morning.

That afternoon on his way up the stairs to the apartment to change, Kurt's phone pinged with a text from Rachel.

-He's a talented as he is gorgeous. THANK YOU. I've already improved a lot in an hour and a half.

Kurt laughed and texted her back.

-You're welcome. You didn't bad mouth the Apples did you? I'm taking him to meet everyone next week.

-No. I kept my mouth shut. I'm learning.

-Good. I'll see you Wednesday.

Kurt changed quickly and rushed out to make it to the evening event had to attend as Isabelle's assistant.

Chandler made it in from tech rehearsal not long after Kurt had made it back from the event. He was still working on getting his suit hung up neatly. They showered and crashed, both falling asleep almost instantly.

* * *

Near lunchtime on Wednesday, Kurt met Rachel and Brian at NYADA. They were still working when he got there, which is what he had hoped. He wanted to see Rachel's "miraculous" improvement, as she had called it. Kurt entered the room and stood where he could see them.

"Kurt, you're early," she said.

"I know. I wanted to see your midterm piece."

She nodded. "I was getting ready to do it again. I went through it once earlier. Brian was helping me on one section that I was really messing up still." She moved into position.

Brian started the music.

Rachel moved fluidly. She looked genuinely confident. Kurt couldn't find anything wrong with her movements, but he was far from an expert. He noticed the definite improvement in her spotting skills as she did a few turns. She managed to look like she was taking flight in her leaps, which was something she had never managed to pull off before.

When the music came to an end, both Kurt and Brian clapped for her.

She curtsied. "I'm treating for lunch. Both of you. After we go shopping, of course." She headed into the locker room to shower and change quickly.

"She's improved immensely in two days."

"She needs very specific directions on what to change. I was able to give her that."

"And she needed someone non-confrontational. You did a good job."

Brian started zipping and unzipping his jacket, and his cheeks flushed slightly before he smiled. "Thanks. I convinced my parents to increase their original budget for my wardrobe upgrade."

"Nice. We're going to my favorite vintage and second-hand places."

"I'm excited. I've been thinking about it for two days straight now."

Rachel came out of the locker room in record time. She was still wearing the ankle-length dance tights. She added the chunky-heeled Mary Janes, a red and black plaid thigh-length skirt, and a black keyhole neck shirt under the sweater Kurt had lined the sleeves on. She had let her hair down and only added some light foundation, powder, and some coordinating lipstick.

Kurt complimented her. "I like this combination. You still look like you, but not like you're 15 still."

"Thank you." She preened. "I've changed my mind. Let's eat first. I'm starving. We'll go to that place Kurt took me to a few weeks ago. I love it there."

* * *

Sharon and James flew in late Thursday evening. Kurt had the living room ready for them to sleep as soon as they arrived. Chandler got back from his dress rehearsal after they had already gone to sleep.

Friday morning, Kurt got up early and prepared breakfast for everyone while Sharon and James showered and got ready for the day. Both of them wanted to see where Kurt went to school and where he worked. Chandler didn't have to go to class because of the musical opening that evening, but Kurt still had a full day of work and classes awaiting him.

They left together and went to FIT. Kurt gave them a brief tour before the other three left for some sightseeing while he went to class. They met up later for lunch near the Conde Nast building. He couldn't take them on a full tour, but he showed them his office before they left to go visit Times Square. Afterwards, Chandler showed them around the buildings where his classes were at NYU.

When the time came for him to have to go get ready for the show, Sharon and James went out for a nice dinner together. Later, they met up with Kurt to sit together to watch the show, which was fantastic. Chandler was an amazing Captain Hook. Kurt was beaming when they came out of the auditorium.

"He was amazing!" Kurt said, bouncing up onto his toes. "Spectacular."

Sharon just smiled at Kurt and agreed with him. "He really was."

Brian ended up making out outside before Chandler. He hurried over to Kurt. He hugged him and then stepped back quickly. "Sorry. I'm, um, just so excited."

"It's fine. You were great," Kurt said.

"Thank you, but that's not what I'm excited about." He was talking much faster than he normally did, without any of the hesitation his anxiety usually caused him. "I did what you said and my mom and dad got the university to move me to a different room, one that no one is living in right now. It's still a double and I could end up with a roommate next semester, but for now, I don't have to be in a room with Greg anymore. I moved all of my stuff this afternoon. My mom likes all of my new clothes. My parents are over there. Will you come with me to meet them really quickly?"

"Sure. Let me introduce you to Chandler's parents first." He turned to Sharon and James. "This is our friend Brian Callahan."

James reached out to shake his hand. "I'm James. It's nice to meet you. "

"You too."

"I'm Sharon. The show was just wonderful."

"Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Kurt said, "I'll be right back." He followed Brian to meet his parents, and then headed back to wait for Chandler again.

Within a couple of minutes of getting back to where James and Sharon were standing, Kinzy and Lara came barreling towards him.

"Chandler was fantastic!" Kinzy said excitedly. Once she realized that Kurt was with the two adults, she calmed down. "Hi, I'm Kinzy Jones."

"I'm Lara Santos." She waved.

"Sharon Kiehl."

"I'm James. It's nice to meet the two of you. Were you both mermaids?"

"We were. I think Chandler was the only freshman to get a lead role, but just getting to be in the musical was really fun," Kinzy said.

Chandler finally came out. "Kinzy!" he exclaimed, as he pulled her into a hug and spun her around. He hugged Lara next. "Such lovely mermaids." He stepped back. "I see everyone has met."

"We were all regaling your amazing performance," Lara said.

"You were really amazing, honey."

"Thanks, Mom."

Someone called out Lara's name.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Lara said. She took Kinzy's hand and ran off.

"I'm ready to go when you are," Chandler said. "I'm famished. Let's go home and eat."

* * *

Early Sunday morning, Marlene and Zach picked up Burt and Carole and drove to New York City. Zach dropped everyone off at the apartment building. Chandler hopped in to show him to the closest parking lot. The two of them walked back to the apartment and met the Thai delivery guy coming down the stairs as they went up.

After they finished eating, Chandler left to go to NYU. The others took turns freshening up and catching up before they left an hour later.

They sat together. Kurt, Sharon, and James enjoyed the show as much as they had the first time. The other four loved it as well.

After the show, Brian came up to talk to Kurt again and froze in place after noticing Burt. "You're Congressman Burt Hummel."

"I am," Burt chuckled. "And you are?"

"Brian Callahan, sir." He turned to Kurt. "Your dad is Burt Hummel? How did I not know that?"

"You didn't ask," Kurt teased. "How do you know about my dad?"

"We, um, had to do a paper on a member of the House of Representatives that was, um, in their first term last spring in my Government class. I, um, looked through all of the ones that were options and I liked his stance on the arts in school and his support for gay rights. I didn't read anything about his personal life, so I didn't know he had a son named Kurt."

Burt smiled and offered his hand, "It's nice to meet you, Brian. Were you in the show?"

"Yes, sir. I was one of Captain Hook's pirates."

Rachel and Quinn walked up before he could say anything else. Rachel wrapped her arms around Brian and side hugged him. "You were fantastic."

"Thanks."

Kurt intervened. "Everyone this is Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray. We went to high school together." He motioned to each person as he introduced them. "You know my dad and Carole, of course. This is James and Sharon Kiehl, Chandler's parents. And Zach and Marlene Kingston, his brother-in-law and sister."

Brian's parents saw him and came over and joined the group. This time, he took over the introductions. Kinzy and Lara showed up before he finished, so he went partially around the group again.

Burt spoke up. "We were planning to get some ice cream or dessert before we head back to DC. If any of you want to join us, that'd be great."

Chandler finally made it out to the group when they were all looking at their phones and deciding on a location. Kurt wrapped his arm around his waist and pulled him close to look through the options with him.

* * *

They found a bakery within walking distance and headed that way as a big group.

Rachel left Quinn behind to move up to talk to Brian. "Hey, Brian?" She wrapped her arm around his waist.

He moved his arm and put it around her shoulder and waited for her to continue.

"I was just wondering if you had picked out your costume yet for the masquerade this week?"

"I did. I had my parents bring it with them. Do you want to see it?"

"Could I? I picked out a black dress and a plum one. I really like the style of the plum one, but it's a bit trickier to match. Do you think you could bring your costume to Kurt's later? Maybe after your parents leave? Kurt agreed to make both of us masks if I could let him see the costumes by tonight. Otherwise, we'll have to buy ours somewhere."

"Sure. I can bring it over."

"Great! Thanks."

Quinn approached him on the other side.

"Hey, Quinn."

"You were really good. The whole show was really well done."

"Thanks."

Kinzy came up alongside Rachel. Lara attached herself to the group on Quinn's side.

"I didn't catch your name. I'm Lara Santos." She looked towards Rachel. "That's Kinzy Jones. She's my girlfriend."

"Quinn Fabray. I went to high school with Rachel and Kurt. Chandler lived in the same town as us, but went to a different high school."

"Cool. No one I know from my high school is here in New York, at least not that I know of. Kinzy and I met at summer camp a couple of years ago. We don't live too far apart, but we didn't go to the same school. Where do you go to school now?"

"Yale."

"Oh, wow. That's impressive."

Quinn smiled somewhat shyly. "Thanks. It's really different from high school. That's for sure."

"So is NYU. We both lived in a pretty small city, so everything is very different here, but we both really like it. What are you majoring in?"

"Drama, but I think I'm going to add psychology or something more practical as a second major."

"I'm minoring in graphic art and taking advertising classes as electives. If the performing arts never become a viable income source, I'll think about going to graduate school in advertising."

"I could have used some good counseling when I was younger, so I'm considering it. Our guidance counselor was very sweet and extremely dependable – if you asked her to do something specific for you, which was better than not being dependable. But she wasn't very proactive. A lot of students were overlooked."

She nodded in understanding. "Kinzy's going to get certified to be a yoga and Pilates instructor, so she can do that between roles or even while she has one."

Burt hollered from behind, "Turn right."

The whole group took a right and saw the bakery when they got around the corner. Brian opened the door and let all of the girls walk in. Everyone ordered and sat down, nearly filling the available seating. They all went their separate ways once they had finished.

* * *

Marlene and Chandler went to bring the car back so they'd get a little time alone together.

"I really like that coat on you," she said. "I don't think I've ever seen it."

"I got it at that huge indoor flea market you used to take me to in Toledo when I took Kurt there the first time. He got a longer one."

"I like your improvements. The buttons make it look really unique."

"Thanks. Are you coming to Ohio for Thanksgiving?"

"Yeah. We're going to stay the whole week. We're going to travel around a bit. We're not going for Christmas this year."

"Alright. Maybe we can do a pre-Christmas celebration on Saturday or something."

"That sounds like a good idea." She wrapped her arm around his waist. "Are you as happy as you seem or are you using your fantastic acting skills?"

"I'm not pretending. I love him and he loves me and we're happy together."

She squeezed him. "Good. You waited a long time to date anyone. I know how excited you were back in May. I just wanted to make sure that you didn't just end up settling after you started to date him."

"Nope, no settling. I'm genuinely content and I enjoy living with him. He's my best friend. We don't fight. I'm comfortable with him. I know that sounds lame, but it's not. It's actually amazing."

"Comfortable is great, but you're more than just best friends, right?"

Chandler rolled his eyes. "Yes, Marlene. We're more than just best friends. I think you're just about to step across the line of what I'm comfortable answering."

"Hey, I'm the one that was willing to help you find all of the information you needed so you wouldn't just rely on porn for your sex education."

"I know. I appreciate that. I really do."

"Just try to see it from my point of view, just a bit. You had a crush on him for ages. You met, started dating less than a week later, and then just over three months later, you moved in together living like a married couple. I just want to make sure you're still happy. I just want you to know that Zach and I are here for you. I don't think Mom and Dad would refuse to help you, but they're on the hook for your rent here. If you ever need out, Zach and I will help you with the cost of moving somewhere else."

"I get it. The whole thing moved really fast. But it's been almost four months since we moved in here together. I love New York City. I love our place. And I'm in love with Kurt. I like my classes. I had a great time being the musical." He squeezed her back. "I appreciate your support. I really do. You're a great sister, in case I haven't told you recently."

"You're not so bad yourself. I'm glad you're happy. I didn't mean for you to feel like I was giving you the third degree. I just wanted to be sure. You read those stories you know. 'I pretended everything was great and when no one was looking my partner abused me.'"

"I know you just want to make sure, but I'm good. I really like my life here. I know Mom and Dad will be sad that we've both headed off for big cities, but Lima just isn't the place for me."

"Me either, but I'm glad they like it there."

They stepped up to the attendant and Marlene gave him the claim ticket for their car. She paid and he stamped it and he used a walkie for someone to bring the car out.

On the drive back, Chandler pointed out different places they liked. When she pulled up out front, he texted Kurt that they were back. He got out and went around the car and opened her door. She got out and hugged him before moving to the backseat to sit with Carole for the ride back to DC. Zach and Burt got in the front. They waved as they drove off.

Within a few minutes of them getting back upstairs, there was a knock on the door. Kurt opened it. James stepped closer and paid the delivery guy. Sharon took the Japanese food they had ordered and put it on the counter next to the plates that were out.

"Surprise, honey. We're going to celebrate your birthday two weeks early."

Chandler grinned as he looked at the different dishes. "It looks fabulous and smells delicious."

They sat and ate together, talking about the musical mostly. When they finished, the three of them sang 'Happy Birthday' to Chandler. Kurt went in their room and brought out two boxes and took them to the living room. The other three followed him. Chandler sat on the floor facing them and opened the flatter of the two boxes.

"The dark red Docs! Just what I wanted. Thank you!"

"You're welcome, honey. In the box is a tin of the right color shoe polish for them."

"You think of everything. They're perfect." He reached for the other box and lifted the lid. He lifted the neat tissue paper up to reveal a black long-sleeve, button up shirt with a Mandarin collar and a placket covering the buttons. Along the top half of the shirt there were burnished silver buckles across the button placket, making it appear that the shirt was held closed by the buckles.

"It's the shirt I described that I thought would look good with my magician's outfit! You made it?"

Kurt nodded and smiled.

"It's perfect." He reached into the box and pulled out a pair of black airship steampunk pants that had the appearance of sides that opened along the thigh area that had the burnished silver buckles across them keeping the fabric closed. "No way! No way! No way!" He hopped up and ran off to the bedroom and came back 30 seconds later for the boots.

"Those are amazing, Kurt." Sharon said.

"Thank you. He described the shirt and pants and said that he wanted to make his magician's outfit more steampunk and eccentric than it is now. There are a couple of other things in the box he didn't find yet."

Chandler raced back quickly so quickly that his new boots weren't laced yet. "It's perfect."

"Come closer." Kurt waited, and then knelt down and tied his boots. He picked the box up of the floor and sat it on the sofa next to him. "The box isn't empty."

"This is too much already." His excitement spilled out in his actions, though, as he removed the tissue paper quickly, but carefully and found two smaller boxes in the bottom. He pulled one out and opened it. "Kurt, it's beautiful." He turned the burnished silver pocket watch so his parents could see it.

James reached out and Chandler put it in his hand. "That's a lovely watch. I like the etchings."

Chandler took it back and fastened it to his deep red tux jacket. He took the other small box out and opened it. He wasn't quite sure what it was. It looked like a brooch made of gears, but it didn't have a pin backing on it. It looked more like a hair barrette on the back.

"It fastens on your top hat band, but can be removed so you can wear it with or without it."

"Oh, that's really cool. Let me go get my hat." He came back with it on.

Sharon took her phone out. "Go stand in front of the closet, so I can take your picture. A little to your right – that's good."

Kurt was standing behind her and he winked at Chandler, which caused him to smile genuinely.

Sharon took a few more shots. "The new pieces really liven up the outfit. It gives it a little whimsy, but also looks a little more severe all at the same time." She shrugged. "I like it."

James said, "Me too."

"I think it's amazing." He walked straight to where Kurt was standing and kissed him gently. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He took Chandler's hand and knelt. "Will you be my date to the NYADA Masquerade and the Vogue Halloween Extravaganza?"

"Of course! But how can you invite me to the NYADA Masquerade?"

"Well, technically, I am Dahlia's date and you are Veronica's date."

"I see."

"I made a mask for you already."

He turned around and opened a box on his desk and pulled out two masks. He handed the deep red one to Chandler and put the black one on himself. They both had the same burnished silver chains around the outer edges and around the eyes. Chandler's had some more silver accents around the mask, while Kurt's had black feathers with accents of silver along the top edge of his.

"Those are really beautiful, Kurt," Sharon said.

"Thanks."

"What are you wearing?" she asked.

"Well, how about I go put it on and show you?" He came back a few minutes later wearing a deep red shirt in the same style as Chandlers. His pants were also the same style, but they were black with deep red pinstripes. He had his knee-high Docs on. Instead of a tux coat with tails, he was wearing a hooded cape that was black on one side and deep red and silver on the other. It fastened at the neck with the same buckles as the shirts and pants.

"Well, that's dramatic," Sharon said, as she smiled. "I like the cape."

"I figured it could also serve as a prop or a flourish to distract people a little if Chandler tries any more tricky sleight-of-hand tricks."

"Stand over in front of the closet. I want to take pictures of you by yourself, and then both of you together with the masks on."

A few minutes later, she had taken ones she liked and she put her phone away. "Where's your camera? I'll take a few with it, so you'll have them."

Kurt got it out and she took more. He put it back when she finished.

"All of the pieces actually coordinate. Since Chandler and I wear the same size, he'll be able to mix and match all of it and have a lot of options."

James' phone started beeping. "That's our alarm to get going to the airport." They got up and grabbed their luggage.

"We're so proud of you Chandler. You were great in the musical." James hugged him.

Sharon was next to hug them both. "Have fun this week at the costume parties. I'm glad we got to spend time with the two of you. We'll see you at Thanksgiving."

They followed them down the stairs and waved as they drove off in the taxi. They went back upstairs and changed back into their regular clothes.

"I'm glad we have the extra space for our families to stay with us, but I'm ready for some serious snuggle time," Kurt said.

"Me too, but that will have to wait a while."

Kurt faux pouted and batted his eyes at Chandler.

Chandler stepped forward and kissed him. "You think that's going to work on me? We're supposed to be prepping our food for this coming week. And Rachel and Brian will be here in an hour."

He kissed up Chandler's neck.

"Five minutes can't hurt, right?"

* * *

Five minutes turned into 20 and ended with them showering for the night early and putting on pajama pants and hoodies to cook in.

Brian showed up first, right on time. Kurt and Chandler were packing up what they had cooked when he arrived. Kurt opened the door and let him in.

"Come on in. Rachel's not here yet. We're almost done putting everything away." Kurt took his garment bag and hung it in their coat closet.

"What are you doing?"

"We pre-cook some of the stuff for our meals on the weekends. I work Saturday mornings, and I go to Trader Joe's when I get off. Chandler meets me there. We grab everything and carry it home and prep what we get for the week. We've been going to the farmer's market and getting stuff there on Sunday mornings, but we've had to start getting what we can in the grocery store instead since it's fall. Sometimes we rearrange our schedule if there's something we really want to do or have to do on Saturday afternoon, like this weekend with the musical."

Rachel knocked on the door. Chandler let her in. She had two garment bags with her. Chandler found Queenie and picked her up. He left them to their costuming project and took her into the bedroom with him to do some reading for one of his classes.

"Alright, Rachel," Kurt said. "Let's go in the living room. I already bought four masks to use as the bases for the two of you. I'll return two of them when I go to get what I need to decorate them with." He pointed to his desk. "You two can go look." He grabbed the lint roller and used it on the sofa quickly. He carefully laid out both dresses she had brought, one on each end of the sofa. He took Brian's costume of its garment back and laid it in between the dresses.

Kurt examined the deep pine green velvet jacket and breeches. "This is by far the most amazing French Revolution aristocracy costume I have ever seen." He opened the coat to look at the flaxen-colored hand-embroidered vest underneath. "Someone did a fantastic job making it. The stitching and everything is just astounding."

"My mom found it at a yard sale when it was far too big to fit me. She kept it and surprised me with it before prom last spring. We had a costume ball theme. She had it tailored to fit me."

After a bit of discussion, the plum dress was chosen, and Kurt decided to add a bit of flaxen lace to the top of Rachel's dress and to her sleeves so that their outfits would coordinate better.

While Kurt was talking to Rachel about her mask, Brian examined the painting over the table. When they finished, Rachel took the dress she wasn't keeping and put it back in the garment bag and left, hoping to make it to the store to return it before it closed.

Brian tried on the mask he liked so that Kurt could take measurements.

"I like that painting over your table."

"My best friend Sam painted it for me as a graduation present."

"He's really good."

"He is. He'll be here later this week. I'm excited. It's been five months since I've seen him. He moved back to Tennessee after graduation." He fiddled with the mask a bit. "Look to your left." He worked at it until he got it so that it would stay on comfortably. "That's it for now. I'll go to the fabric store tomorrow and get what I need. We can just meet before the masquerade starts Wednesday and I'll give it to you or I can leave yours with Rachel."

"With Rachel would be fine. She and I are going to that place we went last week to eat before the masquerade starts. I really like it there. I'm going to leave my costume in her room while we go."

"Works for me. Why don't you just leave it here and I'll take it with me when I take Rachel's. That will save you from having to take it now back now and with you on Wednesday."

"That would be really helpful, actually. Thank you. And thanks for making our masks."

"You're welcome. I hate to run you off, but I have an early morning tomorrow and I need to get a few things done and get some sleep."

"No problem." He let himself out.

Kurt put Brian's costume and Rachel's dress back in the garments bag and hung them in the coat closet. He locked the deadbolt on his way into the bedroom.

* * *

"I believe earlier you said that you were in need of a serious snuggle."

"Mmm hmm."

"I'm pretty certain that you are overdressed for a serious snuggle."

Kurt sat back up and pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it on the floor next to the bed. He slipped his pajama pants off just as quickly. "You have to snuggle me close now because I'm freezing."

"Not a problem," Chandler said as he climbed back in bed pajama-free as well.

He scooted up behind Kurt and snuggled up tight. "How's this?"

"Perfect." He let out a long sign of contentment. He picked up Chandler's hand and placed gentle kisses along his knuckles.

When Kurt let go of his hand, Chandler ran his fingers down Kurt's arm and then slid his hand underneath and put his hand against Kurt's chest. "What you made for me is perfect. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'm glad they turned out like what you had imagined."

"They're even better. And the pocket watch and hat clip just give it a little flair." He pressed gentle kissed to the back of Kurt's neck. "I love you so much. You spoil me too much though. You didn't want me to get you anything for your birthday. We just stayed home and watched a movie and snuggled. You even helped me make dinner."

"But that's what I wanted. We'd both been super busy with our first week of classes and getting used to the commutes and the coursework. I got exactly what I wanted. I missed you so much with all the rehearsals. I remembered what you had described back when I first saw your outfit and I made it and thought about you."

"I've missed you too. This snuggle is just what I needed too. I love you."

* * *

Monday afternoon, Adam met Kurt at the exterior door where he was waiting for Brian. "So tell me about this other non-NYADA student that you want me to consider for Apple's membership." Adam winked at him.

"Well, his name is Brian. He's a freshman dance major at NYU. He wants to be a choreographer. You've said that you have a hard time getting students from the 'higher ranking' majors like musical theatre and dance to join the group."

"That's true. We don't have any dance majors and we eek by with the choreography that we can come up with ourselves. Can he sing?"

"Well enough to stay on pitch and sing his part. He was one of the pirates in NYU's _Peter Pan_ production this weekend. Rachel's going to give him lessons in exchange for helping her improve enough to wow Miss July."

"I saw the musical. It was really amazing. Chandler was great. I'm not sure which pirate Brian was, but they were all good dancers. Rachel must have been desperate. She doesn't strike me as the type to give out her vocal technique secrets."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I know you don't think much of her. I've never been her biggest fan. That's for sure. But she's better now than she was in high school."

Adam nodded. "So long as Brian has a good time today, he's welcome to be a part of the group. I did ask after I let you join. I was told that the leader and anyone holding any type of official office has to be a NYADA student. Other people can join at the leadership's discretion."

"Excellent. He's trying to make new friends. I think he'll fit in here."

Adam smiled and nodded. "I'm going to head inside to get a few things ready. I'll see you in a bit."

Brian arrived a few minutes later. He followed Kurt into the building, through the auditorium, and up onto the stage. Kurt introduced him to Adam first, and then Adam introduced him to the group.

"Why don't you watch us from the audience the first time we sing the songs through?" Adam suggested.

Brian nodded and pulled his phone out before he sat down. He watched and recorded them. Afterwards, Kurt motioned for him to come back up on stage. He gave Brian the sheet music for both of the songs and he joined in as they practiced. When rehearsal was over, Adam pulled Kurt and Brian to the side of the stage.

"So, what do you think?" Adam asked.

"You're going to let me join?" Brian asked shyly, somewhat surprised.

Adam smiled warmly. "Of course – if you want to."

"Yes. Definitely, yes. Everyone was really nice. Thank you."

"Follow me." He led them to one of the areas at the back of the wings. He opened the combination lock on a cabinet. "You look like a large, if you like them a little loose like I do."

Brian nodded.

He handed Brian an Apple's hoodie. "Welcome to the Apples," he said cheerfully.

A huge smile spread across Brian's face. "How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing. Each member gets one. If you want more than one, you'll have to buy the second one. We do a few busking events and we use the money we get for buying the hoodies and paying for music." Adam locked the cabinet back up and led them back out to the stage area where they had been rehearsing.

Brian slipped off the zip up hoodie he was wearing and put the Apple's hoodie on instead. He and Kurt said their goodbyes and left to meet Rachel for her tutoring session.

* * *

Kurt was wearing dance clothes and his Apple's hoodie, so he took advantage of the barres and did some stretching and went through various ballet arm and leg positions while Brian warmed up as well. When Brian finished, he turned Rachel's music on and watched her run through her piece. He corrected a few minor issues and had her do it again twice.

During the last run-through, Cassie July had walked into the room without anyone noticing. "Well, well, well. I'm impressed. I'll have to come up with a new name for you now," she sighed. "As much as it pains me to say, there wasn't much in that to criticize. Which one of you two helped her?"

Kurt saw Brian's panic set in. "Brian did. He's a dance major at NYU."

"Well, Brian from NYU, if you're taking other students on for tutoring, let me know. I have a few others that could use your magical lessons."

"I'll think about it," he said.

"You do that." She walked back out of the room.

Once the door shut, Rachel gushed, "Oh, my God. She didn't say anything horrible to me. She always has something bad to say." She hugged Brian. "Thank you!" She stepped back. "She has never by-passed an opportunity to insult something about me. My presentation of this piece is tomorrow morning. I might have a decent shot of getting a good grade!" She was barely containing her excitement. "Tomorrow we start with your vocal lessons. I can't thank you enough for working with me for a whole week straight without me reciprocating, but now it's your turn. Bring pieces that you'd like to be able to audition with and we'll work on them."

He nodded.

Chandler peeked into the room and then opened the door the rest of the way. Kurt crossed the room quickly and hugged him. He took him by the hand and took him into the dressing room so he could change.

"Why don't you two run Rachel's piece a couple of more times to make sure she's really got it down for tomorrow morning."

Brian nodded. "Sure."

When they got inside, Kurt kissed him, backing him up until he was against the wall. "Here let me help you with your shirt," he teased, as he ran his hands up under Chandler's shirt along his ribs.

"Oh, God, Kurt. I wasn't expecting you to grope me in the locker room." He pulled Kurt closer and kissed along his neck. "Don't stop."

"Strip down to your underwear and hang your clothes in here. No one ever takes anything, plus there's not a class in here for another hour." He opened one of the lockers and started undressing himself quickly. It didn't take him long since only had a tank, his Apples hoodie and the jazz pants on. He grabbed two towels off the shelf and headed into a shower stall and waited for Chandler.

Ten minutes later, they both emerged from the locker room in their dance pants and tanks, both a little flushed with relaxed smiles on their faces. They took their places together and slow danced a bit before Brian changed the music to a waltz and they began to practice for the masquerade.


	26. Chapter 26

Kurt, Chandler, Veronica, and Dahlia met up inside the atrium. They were talking about their costumes and taking photos of each other when Rachel and Brian arrived. Veronica took a few photos of the four of them together before they headed upstairs to the Masquerade in the round room.

The three NYADA students showed their IDs and they were let in with their dates. As soon as they stepped inside the room, Dahlia took Veronica's hand and led her off to dance. Rachel took Brian with her to talk to some of the people she knew that were standing near the refreshment tables.

Kurt took Chandlers hand. "May I have this dance?"

Chandler leaned in and kissed him discretely on his neck, blocking the view to make it look like he was merely whispering to Kurt. "You may have all of my dances, now and forever."

Kurt blushed a bit. He knew that Chandler loved him, but his absolute declarations of the depth and permanence of his love always caught Kurt' off guard. Although it was a bit difficult with their masks on, Kurt turned and kissed Chandler.

Chandler smiled and squeezed Kurt's hand, enjoying Kurt's increased level of comfort with PDA and general closeness. Gone were the days when Kurt was unsure of how Chandler felt about him, how proud Chandler was to be his boyfriend. Chandler could see the constant fear that Kurt had lived in Lima slip farther away the longer they were in New York. He let himself be led out into the center of the room. They took their positions and began to waltz around the room with ease thanks to Brian's lesson.

After a couple of dances, they moved back out to the edge of the room. They stood holding hands and looked around the room. It was dimly lit, but still offered enough light to see around the room. The live baroque music filled the room as they stood and admired other people's costumes. Kurt recognized Madame Tibideaux and Cassandra July amongst those dancing. He saw several other people who were too old to be students dancing as well.

When the song ended, Madame Tibideaux approached. She made eye contact with each of them. "Mr. Hummel. Mr. Kiehl."

"Madame Tibideaux." Kurt bowed slightly.

Chandler tipped his head slightly in greeting.

"I'm pleased to see you here this evening, Mr. Hummel, despite the fact that it seems that your proper date has abandoned you for her girlfriend. Yours as well, Mr. Kiehl." Just the tips of lips curved upward as she tilted her head just slightly, while raising her eyebrow and looking towards Veronica and Dahlia. "Should I read anything into the fact that you've joined our illustriously infamous show choir, brought them a fantastic dancer from NYU as a bonus and you've been seen spending time with several students? Can I infer anything from your ongoing interactions with our school?"

"Well, I do love performing, and the Apples are a lot of fun and are mostly responsible for me hanging around so much. You're the one that put them on my radar with recommending them to perform _Pip, Pip, Hooray_."

"A good recommendation on my part, if I do say so myself. It was quite entertaining. Professor Landry, our playwriting professor thought so as well."

Kurt was surprised and didn't know what to say really. "That's nice to know."

"You didn't answer my question, Mr. Hummel."

"Oh, I'm enjoying my classes at FIT, but I do miss performing. I'm fairly certain that you're aware of why I chose FIT."

"The expense."

"Yes, mostly. I enjoy both creating and performing. But I will admit that seeing Chandler in _Peter Pan_ made me wish that I had been performing with him rather than just watching. In order for me to really considering attending NYADA, I would have to secure some time of educational support other than loans. Unfortunately, the FAFSA doesn't take into consideration that my parents' incomes are supporting two residences, as required of my father to be a congressman. They don't take into consideration how much of my father's congressional income is spent in airfare between DC and Ohio to remain part of the community that he represents. They also for some odd reason consider all of the equipment in his personal business as liquid assets. Obviously, he cannot run a mechanic's shop without the hydraulic lifts and expensive tools he has there."

"Yes, I'm aware of the plight of students who have farmers for parents as well. They can't sell their 'assets' to provide cash for their children to go to college, yet their children aren't eligible for much, if any, financial aid outside loans."

"Leaving a group of students, including myself, to have to choose a school with modest tuition. But of course, should you ever find a benefactor willing to cover the part of the tuition that exceeds what I'm paying at FIT, I might be inclined to reconsider. It would still be a hard choice though. I quite enjoy my internship at Vogue dot com."

"I am sure that you do. I will take under advisement your need for a benefactor. You could do both, fashion and performing."

"That would be a perfect combination."

She nodded once and took her leave.

Chandler stepped closer. "She seems quite determined to get you to transfer here."

"I know. It's odd. Shall we dance some more or would you like a drink?"

"Let's get a drink." Chandler took his hand and they snaked through the crowd over to the refreshment table.

They ran into Adam and his date, Carlen, a sophomore, who was one of the Apples.

"Hey," Kurt said, as they walked up.

"Hey, you," Adam said back. "It's nice to see you here. Nice costumes. I'm guessing that's Kurt's doing."

"Somewhat," Kurt said. "I did make my outfit and our masks. I made his shirt and pants. The rest he already had."

"I'm a magician on the side. I wanted to update my look and Kurt made my wish come true. They're early birthday presents."

"Very nice," Carlen said. "I like your cape, Kurt."

"Thanks. I made it to match so that if Chandler ever wants to use it while he's doing a magic show, he can. I can also be his assistant if he needs one sometime."

Adam stepped to Kurt's side and spoke very quietly. "Carlen had been hoping to invite Brian, but when he found out that he was coming with Rachel, he thought maybe he had been reading Brian wrong."

"Oh. OH. No, he's right. It's just that Rachel didn't have a date and she didn't want to give anyone the impression that she liked them romantically, so she asked Brian to come as friends."

"So, if Carlen wanted to ask him to dance, that might work?"

"I'm sure." Kurt stepped away and spoke to Carlen. "If you had left your mask on, I wouldn't have recognized you. I don't think I've ever seen you with your hair slicked down, but the style is very appropriate for a masquerade."

"I like to let my curls be free," he laughed. "But with this outfit, my shoulder-length curly locks looked ridiculous, so I ask Marguerite to fix it earlier this evening. It made all the difference in making my costume look good."

"And hide your identity if you want," Chandler added.

Kurt stepped back towards Adam and pointed out where Rachel and Brian were in the crowd. "Why don't you take Carlen with you and ask to cut in. We'll go with you. You can dance with Rachel. We'll be nearby so Brian doesn't feel nervous. A couple of dances ought to give them long enough to think about more dances later."

"Good plan."

The four of them headed to the area where Rachel and Brian were and followed Kurt's plan.

After the first song, Rachel quietly told Brian that she was going to get a drink. Rachel pulled Kurt with her off the dance floor. Adam and Chandler followed and headed to the refreshment table to get two drinks each.

When Rachel got Kurt away from the crowd, she looked him in the eyes and asked, "What is going on?"

He led her even farther away before he answered. "Carlen wanted to ask Brian to the Masquerade, but you asked him first, so I thought we'd at least give them a chance to dance together."

"Oh, I don't know Carlen. I'm assuming he's in the Apples since you know him."

"Correct."

"But Brian isn't interested in dating."

Kurt looked around to make sure that they were out of people's hearing, he said, "That's for Brian to tell Carlen, not one of us. You never know, Carlen might be fine with Brian being asexual. He might be too. It's not for us to ask or deal with. Even if he's not okay with dating someone asexual, he might be just fine being friends with him. I just want to give them a chance to be or not be whatever."

"To be or not to be," Rachel said teasingly.

"Exactly. Plus, I know that Brian told you, but it's not our place to tell anyone else about his sexuality. You've done that before, inaccurately, but still."

"What?"

"When you fake outed Sam as bisexual back in junior year with that stupid _Muckraker_ article."

"Oh, right. The counseling is really helping, but I hadn't thought about that particular incident. I realize now how much I tried to tie myself to Finn's popularity. I was at the bottom socially. And while I did like him and even love him, I think that it was mostly born out of the need to be someone. Quinn and I did a lot of talking while she was here. We both had similar issues. Her parents would accept Finn as a high school boyfriend, whereas they would have not accepted Puck. They were okay with Sam, but she said it was unlikely that they would have continued to support the relationship once Sam's family was living in the hotel. She also said that they would have kicked her out if she had dated a girl."

"Her dad was a huge hypocrite, but that's neither here nor there about Brian. What he reveals to people about himself is his choice. It's not your place or mine to reveal anything private about him. He did me a big favor tutoring you and you got a High Pass on your midterm, which you would have never gotten on your own. Be thankful he helps you and keep his personal details to yourself."

"I will. I can also see the appeal of dating someone you don't go to school with."

"Does this have something to do with Quinn?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Well, let's just say that I've answered my own questions about whether I envied her or was jealous of her and whether I wanted her or what she had."

"And?"

"All of the above."

Kurt laughed. "Do tell."

"You just discouraged me from gossiping."

"I discouraged you from telling someone's personal and private information that they may not be inclined to share with everyone they meet. This is you telling me juicy information about yourself. There's a huge difference. Now, spill."

"Aren't we supposed to be dancing?" she deflected. "This is the NYADA Annual Masquerade Ball, the only place we'll get to waltz all year. Come on."

"Fine, but this isn't over. The song is ending. I'm going to go find Chandler and dance with him for the rest of the evening. You can go back to dancing with Brian and your other friends." He turned to find Chandler standing there offering him a drink, which he gratefully took. "Thank you." He drank the small glass of punch and waited for Chandler to finish his before kissing him gently. They tossed their cups and headed back out to the dance floor.

* * *

At the end of the evening, they went with Rachel back to her dorm to change back into their regular clothes. Kurt, Chandler, and Brian opted to leave theirs in her room until the next afternoon since they had other plans for the evening still.

After they changed, they met back up with Veronica and Dahlia along with Carlen, whom Brian had invited along. The six of them headed to one of the independent theaters and met up with Lara and Kinzy to watch _The Rocky Horror Picture Show_.

* * *

By the time Kurt and Chandler got home that night they were exhausted. They headed straight for the shower and right to bed. Kurt snuggled up behind Chandler and Queenie curled up in front of him.

Chandler stroked her fur gently. "I know, Queenie. We were gone too long. I'm sorry."

She mewled and moved her head from side to side as he stroked her.

Kurt slipped his hand under Chandler's arm and petted her as well. "We love you. We'll stay home tomorrow evening. Sam's coming to visit."

She meowed and stretched out.

Kurt said, "I think she's tired of all of the company we've had and us being gone so much. When I come at lunch tomorrow, I'll take her for a walk down to the taquería and share a fish taco with her. That should cheer her up a bit. Then, we'll come back and wait for Sam to get here."

"You spoil her."

"She deserves it." Kurt kissed Chandler on the back of the neck and got comfortable. "I love you. I had a good time with you tonight."

"Mmm. Me too." He slipped his right hand up under his pillow and under Kurt's hand and wrapped his fingers around it. "I love you too."

* * *

Kurt stood up when Sam's taxi pulled up. Sam hopped out with his bag and paid the driver.

"I'd hug you, but I don't want to squish Queenie."

"Come on upstairs. You can hug me up there. I have fish tacos for lunch."

Sam followed him inside. "I've seen the photos of her on a leash, but it kind of seemed like a joke, but she walks nicely on it."

"Oh, she loves it. She and I took a walk to the taco place and got lunch for all of us."

Sam headed into the bathroom first. Kurt washed Queenie's feet off with a wipe before he put her down and took her harness and leash off. She walked between his feet, meowing.

"I know, Sweetheart. I know. Just give me a minute," he baby talked her. He washed his hands and poured drinks for the two of them and put them on the table with the bag of tacos.

Sam came back out and sat down at the table.

Kurt pulled the fish out of the first taco he opened, put it in a small bowl, and put it on the floor for her. He opened the second taco and split the fish down the middle and put half of it in the other taco.

Sam just looked at him and laughed. "You spoil her."

"I know, but she's super sweet and she liked me from the very first time she saw me. I love her now and I only do this like once a month. It's just fun. It's something I do with her that she really likes. And she's always there for me when I'm feeling lonely or down."

"When we talk, you don't seem lonely or down. Are things not going as well as you make them out to be when we talk?"

"Things are fine. They are. It's now so much now, but this summer it was harder. Chandler and I hadn't really made any friends and we got scheduled to work at different times and I was alone in the apartment, but I wasn't because she was here. And contrary to typical cat behavior, she would snuggle me and it was just nice."

"Well, that's good that you're not feeling like that so much anymore. It's still a struggle for me. I've made a few friends, but I'm glad to be back with my family. I had missed them." Sam stopped talking and began eating. "These are really good."

"I really like them. I had never had fish tacos until we went to this place. I'm going to look up how to make them at some point, but the price isn't bad and these just hit the spot."

Sam looked down at her eating the fish. "If you make them, Queenie will be sad to miss out on her date with you."

Kurt laughed. He looked down and saw Queenie still eating her fish fillet. "She does love it."

A huge smile that lit up his eyes appeared on Sam's face. "Guess what."

"What?"

He sat up straight and looked important. "You are looking an officially licensed real estate broker in the great state of Tennessee."

Kurt nearly squealed. "You did it? You passed the test?"

"I did. I actually sold my first house already too. I was waiting to tell you in person. The crew I've been training with, well, the foreman told the general contractor that I had passed the test and he let me list the house and it sold yesterday. I'm $9000 richer than I was last week."

"You made $9000 selling a house?"

"I did. Plus, I got paid the three months we worked to renovate it. You may think what I did was dumb, but I bought a new truck. Well, new to me anyway. One of the guys on the crew, his dad owns a repair shop and I had him look it over before I bought it. Anyway, now I have a decent looking truck to drive around to show people houses. I thought you might like to take me out shopping?"

"Ooh, you know my weaknesses. A makeover?"

"Sure. I could use a haircut. I need to go shorter. I'd still like some blond highlights, but nothing like when I showed up year before last. And not at a place that charges $150 to do it. I might have made a lot of money, but I'm far from rich."

"Got it. We can look through some pictures and you can give me an idea of what type of look you're going for. I'm not really all that up on what's fashionable in Tennessee."

"Well, not what's fashionable here. That's for sure. You still have a class this afternoon, right?"

"I do. You can come with me. We'll stop by a few places before we come back home."

They finished up eating and when Sam got up to toss his trash out, Kurt pulled him into a hug. "I've missed you. We've gotten lots of compliments on your painting."

"Really? That's cool. I think if I keep up what I'm doing, I'll be able to get my own place in about a year. I'm going to look for a place with an eat-in kitchen and a dining room so I can turn the dining room into an art studio. That way when I have people in to show them things, I won't have them traipsing through my whole house to a bedroom to see the paintings."

"That makes a lot of sense. I'm going to run to the bathroom and grab my bag for class. The drawers in the dresser are empty for you to put your stuff in. You can empty your backpack."

* * *

"That was totally not what I expected," Sam said.

"What did you expect?"

"Something a lot more… I don't know. That was like sitting through a science class at McKinley, but taught by someone who knows what they're doing."

Kurt laughed. "Basically, yeah. It's a college. It's not just a school to take sewing lessons or something. I'll have a B.A. when I finish. Let's go this way. I know this secondhand place that might have some stuff."

"As you wish," he said, bowing slightly.

Once they were inside, Kurt began scouring the racks for things in Sam's size. Sam went to look through the jackets. He pulled a warm tan vest off the rack and tried it on.

"I'm getting this for sure. It's a… I don't know what this fabric is, but it holds up better than the slick stuff."

"Duck cloth. It looks good on you and the tan will go with a lot."

He held up the vest that Kurt had given him from back during his butch phase sophomore year. "I have this navy one you gave me to wear for showing houses, with nicer shirts. But this one would work for working on the houses. It doesn't get super cold where I live, but we'll be working with the windows open and no heat."

"I think it might be worth looking into some of that high-tech thin underlayer clothing."

"Sure. Let me take those shirts into the dressing room."

Fifteen minutes later, they were through line and back outside with Sam's new clothes in his backpack. "The vest was a good find. And two shirts isn't terrible. I know some other places we'll hit while you're in town."

"Works for me. I still need new work boots. I bought some cheap ones because it was all I could afford at the time, but they already need replaced. This time I'm buying good ones. I brought the suitcase mostly empty since I wanted you to take me shopping."

"Excellent planning. And that vest and you getting new work boots actually perfect. I wasn't sure what to dress you up as for the event at Vogue, but I actually think construction worker will get you a lot of attention."

"And why would I want attention?"

"For the fun of it? Isn't that the point of wearing a costume? To get people to look at you? We'll go for sexy construction worker. You can pull that off easily."

"This sounds like some kind of stripping gig."

"Not at all. You'll be fully clothed. It will just save you the money of renting a costume."

"I can live with that."

Kurt sent a couple of texts and got responses. He led them back towards the subway. "I changed where we're meeting Chandler."

* * *

"You want me to eat a hot dog?" Sam asked when they stopped in front of Gray's Papaya.

"Live a little, Sam. I know they're terrible nutritionally, but it's like a New York City thing. Just eat one. They're delicious. I've eaten a couple and I didn't die."

"Not yet. It's like slow poison."

Chandler laughed when he heard what Sam said as he walked up. "I'm sure that the pollution here will kill us before whatever is in the hot dogs."

Sam looked around. "That is not funny."

Chandler wrapped his arm around Kurt's waist and squeezed a bit. Kurt leaned in and wrapped his arm around Chandler.

"Okay. You're right. It's not." Kurt led them inside. "If you don't want to eat a hot dog, just have a juice."

As they stood in line, Sam obviously pushed his eating rules to the back of his mind because when he got to the front, he ordered a hot dog and a drink.

Kurt looked at him surprised.

"When in Rome, right?"

"Right," Kurt said.

They took their food and sat down long enough to eat it.

"We'll have a nice healthy dinner," Kurt assured him. "It's at home in the fridge just waiting for us, but our detour is going to get us there a little later than I had planned."

Sam took a bite. "It's actually really good. I haven't had a hot dog in who knows how long."

Kurt looked at Chandler, who smiled knowing what Kurt was thinking – Trader Joe's.

"So where is our next destination?" Chandler asked.

"Vogue."

* * *

Chandler took the garment bag Kurt was carrying so Kurt could unlock the apartment door. Chandler hung them in the closet. Sam put the bags he had in the living room out of the way.

Chandler washed up and pulled their dinners out of the fridge.

Sam came back into the kitchen. "That's a beautiful salad. Three beautiful salads."

"I know how much you like Cobb salads," Kurt said as he came out of the bathroom.

"Definitely." He picked one up and sat down at the table with Chandler.

Kurt poured drinks and joined the other two. "So, unfortunately, I have a little homework to do. You two can start the first movie and I'll come out to join you as soon as I finish.

Chandler nodded. "That's fine. We've all seen the whole series. It's just fun to watch them in order during Halloween week. Sam and I will do the clean up so you can started sooner."

* * *

Sam, Chandler, and Kurt arrived at the Vogue costume party Friday night a little early to get Chandler's magic show set up. When Isabelle found out that Chandler had performed as a magician before, she just kept upping the offer until Chandler relented and decided that making $500 in one evening was worth potentially making a fool of himself in front of a lot of rich, beautiful people. Since Chandler was officially one of the acts for the evening, Kurt brought Sam as his Plus One.

There were quite a few other acts setting up around the venue. Kurt saw a sword swallower, a fire breather, a pole dancer, someone used stretchy fabric to climb and dance with that he didn't know the name of, a palm reader, a woman with a crystal ball, and a tarot card reader. He pulled out his phone and did a search – aerial fabric silk dancing. It looked cool and like something he'd like to try. He made his way over and took the business card he was offered.

The acts alternated throughout the evening to give the performers a break and to let people have time to dance and still visit all of the entertainment areas. Kurt waited for Chandler to finish his second time through and Sam sat with Chandler's stuff for long enough for the other two to dance for a few minutes. They brought some food and drinks back with them and they chatted while they ate.

After Chandler's third performance, Isabelle convinced Kurt to get up and perform in the karaoke area. He tried to get out of it, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. She stood at the front offering him a sincere smile as support. He finished and bowed slightly as the gathered crowd clapped. Afterwards, he went back to sit with Chandler. The lady from the aerial fabric silk dancing came over. She offered Kurt three lessons in exchange for Chandler doing a magic show for her son's fifth birthday in two weeks. Chandler agreed.

After his final show, Kurt and Sam helped Chandler move his stuff to Kurt's office and locked it. Chandler counted the business cards that Isabelle had told him to bring. There were 20 missing and he counted the money in his tip jar – $300. He shook his head in disbelief, but sported a huge smile. He knew just what he wanted to do with the money, but he didn't say anything. He packed the cash away in his bag with his props. They went back to the party and began to go around to take in the rest of the acts they hadn't seen. They all took turns singing karaoke as well.

Before the party ended, Isabelle introduced Sam to another intern. They exchanged numbers and agreed to meet up the next day. While the two of them were talking, Isabelle thanked Chandler and hugged both of them before they headed back to Kurt's office.

* * *

"So what did the guy that Isabelle introduced you to want?" Kurt asked as he closed the car door.

"Oh, he's a photography student and he's been looking for someone to photograph that had a bit of a cowboy look. Someone a little more rugged. And he offered to meet up tomorrow and take photos for about an hour. He said that I can have the rights to them as long as I credit him as the photographer, so I agreed. I figured what better way to get some good photos of me for the website I'm going to let Stevie make for me for my real estate business. They've got to be a million times better than anything I could get my mom to do with my phone."

"That's true. Stevie's only 10. He can make a website?"

"He says he can. I'm going to give him a chance. If not, I'll have to see what else I can figure out."

"Makes sense. Chandler can take you to wherever you're meeting up and the two of you can meet me at Trader Joe's like usual."

"That works," Chandler said. "I still can't believe I made $500 in one night. And 20 people took one of my cards. I booked a birthday party too."

"And that party was rockin'," Sam said. "The DJ was great. You two sound great singing together. All the different entertainment booths were so cool."

Kurt agreed. "It was a lot of fun. And Isabelle offering to send us home in a car is amazing. I wasn't looking forward to bringing everything back so late at night. I'll be sure and thank her again when I work next week."

* * *

Sunday afternoon came too soon for Kurt, but it was inevitable. Sam had to leave or miss his flight back to Tennessee. The two of them walked down the stairs together.

"So, four days in New York City and you leave with a new wardrobe for your new amazing job."

"And a professional photo shoot to use the photos from for my new amazing job."

"And a great party."

Kurt nudged him with his elbow. "And healthy hot dogs."

"Those too."

"And you can get them in Tennessee, so no more missing out on them."

"Yeah, but the best part was seeing you. You know that right?"

Kurt nodded and pulled him into yet another hug. . "I'm going to miss you. I'm so happy that you've found something you enjoy. I'm just selfishly sad that it's not in the same city I live in."

"But now that I'm making decent money, I can come visit between remodels because I can afford plane tickets."

Kurt nodded and let him go when he saw the taxi pull up. "Let me know when you get home safe."

"I will."

Sam through his stuff in the back and got in. He rolled his window down and waved as he rode off. Kurt waved back and brushed the tears from his cheeks as he went back inside.

* * *

Kurt heard Chandler on the phone when he went back inside. He went towards the living room to give him privacy, but when Chandler heard him come in, he got up and followed Kurt.

"Yeah, he's back now," Chandler said. "I'm putting you on speaker." He pulled the phone away from his ear and spoke quietly. "It's my mom."

"So, what I was asking Chandler about is whether or not you think your parents and Finn would agree to have Thanksgiving with all of us in Dayton."

"Oh. I don't know. I can ask them. We didn't do anything year before last because it was right after they had gotten married. And last year, we had a smallish Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving Day. And Finn, Carole, and my dad went to Zanesville on Friday for a big meal with her side of the family. I stayed home and went Black Friday shopping."

"Well, then maybe it's more of a possibility than I had thought."

"What time would we need to be there and what would we need to bring? I need to ask soon or she might start to buy stuff for a meal at home."

"Well, usually each family brings an entrée for eight to share, a side dish, and a dessert. One family will bring a turkey and another will bring a big ham. And we eat at 1:00, so coming any time before that is fine. We'll have the tractor and trailer pulled up for hay rides. And we'll have most of the games we had out for the Fourth of July, minus anything involving getting wet."

Kurt chuckled. "Alright. I'll call Carole now and ask her."

"Are you planning to do the Black Friday shopping again this year?"

"I hadn't actually thought about it. I guess it depends on who's back in town and whether I get invited. I'll let you finish talking to Chandler while I go in the other room and call Carole."

Chandler turned the speaker off and sat down on the sofa to continue their conversation.

Kurt went into their bedroom and closed the door and called. "Carole?"

"Yes, Honey?"

"Sharon called and wanted to know what I thought of all of us going to Dayton for Thanksgiving."

"Oh, on Thursday?"

"Yes, at 1:00." He told her what she'd need to bring.

"Let me grab Finn."

Kurt could hear her yell for him down into the family room. When he came up, she put her phone on speaker and explained the option to him.

"So, there'd be like all those people that were there on the Fourth of July?" he asked.

Kurt answered, "Not quite that many. That was their family reunion too, so I think not all of those people will come, but there will still be a lot of people."

"And we're still going to Zanesville on Friday, right?" Finn asked.

Carole answered, "Yes."

"I'm in. Two huge feasts in two days. Sounds amazing. And Janine will be there both times. She wasn't going to be able to come here on Thursday."

Carole said, "I don't have a problem with it. It will save me from making a turkey."

Finn cut in. "Wait. There's no turkey in Dayton?"

"Yes, Finn. It's just that your mom won't have to make it. There will be ham too."

"Then I'm in still."

"You don't have to call Sharon back," Carole said. "I'll do it."

"Thanks. We'll see you in a couple of weeks."

"I'm looking forward to it, dude," Finn said. "Everyone's going to be back in town for most of the week. It's going to be a lot of fun. I'm going to try to convince Rachel to have a party in her basement Saturday night. I hope she agrees. It's been a long five months."

"I'm sure she'll let me know if she decides to host a party. I've got some homework to do unfortunately. See you soon."

"Later, Dude, " Finn said before he ran back down to the family room.

"We'll be there to pick you up Wednesday morning," Carole said. "Bye, Honey."

"Bye."

Kurt went back into the living room and nodded. "Carole's' going to call your mom." He sat down next to Chandler and squished himself into his side and snuggled up.

"Carole's going to call you. I'll let you go for now." Chandler put his phone down and moved a bit to get more comfortable. He kissed Kurt on top of the head. "So, a crazy Thanksgiving in Dayton."

"Sounds great since I get to be with you."


	27. Chapter 27

Kurt slipped back into the bed and snuggled up behind Chandler.

"Mmm. You're back."

"I am." He began to kiss along Chandler's neck and propped up on his elbow so that he could reach better. "Happy birthday, honey."

"Thank you."

"So, I have a long list of ways to spoil you today, but first and foremost, I want to do what you want." He rolled back long enough to grab his phone. "I've made a list and you can pick." He wrapped himself around Chandler and showed him the list.

Chandler read down the list. "Mmm. Number 12 sounds nice. Well, of course, they're all nice, but 12 sounds like a good place to start."

"Number 12 it is." He took his phone back and put it on the bedside shelf. "Would you like breakfast before or after?"

"Will breakfast take long?"

"No. It's already ready."

He thought for a second. "… After."

Kurt got up and grabbed the massage oil that Chandler loved. Chandler moved to the center of the bed to lie flat on his stomach. Kurt came back with a towel as well.

"I know you're comfy, but raise up so I can put the towel down." He noticed that Chandler had shed his boxer briefs while he was gone. "You changed the dress code while I was gone," he teased.

"I did. It's number 12, modified."

Kurt chuckled. "I see. Very nice view from here." Kurt slipped his off as well and crawled across the bed and straddled Chandler. "You are very attractive. So gorgeous." He ran his hands along Chandler's shoulders and down each arm softly, using just the amount of pressure that Chandler liked. He applied some of the massage oil to his fingertips and ran his thumbs through it and began the hour-long full body massage.

* * *

"So number 12 and number 7 have been crossed off," Kurt said as they got out of the shower and dried off. "Anything else catch your eye before we eat?"

"Nope. I'm starving. But definitely afterwards." He pulled Kurt into searing kiss. "I saw several others."

"Clothes," Kurt said when they broke for air. "You need clothes."

Chandler laughed. "Is that so?"

"Very much. I've been looking forward to pampering you all week and I'm certain that my hands will wander if you don't get dressed."

"Only for breakfast."

Kurt nodded and teased. "I'll turn the heat up a bit, so it will be warm enough."

Chandler pushed him against the bathroom door and kissed him again. "I'm thinking we have plenty of heat."

"You said you wanted to eat," Kurt offered weakly as Chandler kissed down his neck.

"I do." He stepped back and looked at Kurt like he was a steak at the end of lent. "I was right about the chest hair and the facial hair." He ran his hand across Kurt's chest.

"You like?"

"Mmm hmm. A lot."

"It stays then. I'm not sure I'm ready to try having a beard, but I can use the attachment on my razor to keep it this length."

Chandler wiggled his eyebrows and ran both hands down the side of Kurt's cheeks. "It's just a tiny bit scratchy, but not really. You'll keep it?"

"For you, for now."

Chandler pressed in for one more searing kiss before he stepped back enough that they could get the door open to go get dressed.

* * *

About five o'clock, Kurt stopped running his fingers through Chandler's hair and asked him, "Are you asleep?"

"Nope, just enjoying the music and you playing with my hair."

"There's one thing on our list of things to do today that we haven't done that actually wasn't on the list I showed you."

"And what's that?"

"Well, it's actually something that Queenie wants to do."

Chandler ran his hand down her back, stroking her gently. "What is it that you want to do, Queenie?"

"She wants to take you for a walk for your birthday."

"I see. Is that true?"

She stretched out and nuzzled against him.

"Why don't you get up and get her harness out? I'm pretty sure she doesn't think we're going out for a walk with you laying my lap while I pet you and you pet her."

Chandler smiled and stretched too. "Probably not. Let's see." He got up and got her harness and she started mewling and rubbing up against his legs."

"That's a pretty clear 'yes'," Kurt said.

"It is. Let's get going then before it gets dark out." Chandler put Queenie's harness on and fastened the leash. "Let me grab my jacket." He walked her over to the closet and grabbed a sherpa-lined hoodie and put it on.

Kurt grabbed one of his pea coats and buttoned it up. "I'm ready." He ran his hands along the hoodie Chandler was wearing. "I think I'm going to go get one of these after all. I know I said I didn't want one that day, but I kind of do. You look so cozy and comfy."

"I am."

Chandler opened the door and started down the stairs because Queenie didn't want to wait for Kurt to lock the door. When they got outside, Kurt took Chandler's hand and they let Queenie lead them on their walk. She, of course, led them to the taquería giving away her secret lunch dates with Kurt.

"How does she know her way to the taco shop?"

"What makes you think I would know anything about that?" Kurt answered, keeping his face neutral.

"Right," Chandler raised an eyebrow. He stood there as Queenie sat down and waited for the line to move. "She seems to know how this works awfully well."

"She's a very smart cat."

"Umm hmm."

When they stepped up to the window a few minutes later, the girl looked up and before Kurt could get her attention, she said, "Well, hello Miss Queenie. I've never seen you at dinnertime. That will be one fish taco for you," she said, and then she noticed Kurt looking flustered standing behind Chandler, but it was too late. "Anything else?" she asked when Chandler didn't say anything.

"A second fish taco," Kurt said.

She looked at Chandler.

"I think that's it for now," he answered.

Kurt paid her and they stepped down to the next window.

The guy at the window handed Chandler a small bag. "Hey, Queenie," he said when he looked out the window. "You're a beautiful girl. I hope you enjoy your taco."

"I'm sure she will. Thank you," Chandler said. He turned around and looked at Kurt with a huge grin on his face. "Are you taking our cat out on lunch dates?"

Kurt pursed his lips, but his smile broke through and lit up his eyes. "Maybe?"

Chandler followed along as Queenie led them back toward the apartment. Kurt stopped them when they got to a bench. Queenie didn't want to have anything to do with his idea of stopping. He gave up and got right back up. She was throwing a wrench into his plan, but he knew the routine. They headed back to the apartment.

"She knows you don't eat it until you get home, doesn't she?"

Kurt nodded.

"How long have you been taking her out for lunch dates to the taquería?"

"Since the week after we found it."

Chandler's smile grew to the size of Kurt's. "She is so spoiled."

"She deserves it. She accepted me and she loves me."

"That's because she's smart." He squeezed Kurt's hand. "I love you. And I love that you care about Queenie so much. I think your lunch dates are the cutest idea. I'm not sure who to be jealous of."

Kurt picked her up on the landing outside their apartment. Chandler unlocked the door and put the bag of tacos on the table. Kurt shut and locked the door behind them. He grabbed a wipe and cleaned Queenie's feet. Chandler saw and his heart melted. Kurt took such good care of her.

"So, what do I do?"

"Well, I get one of her bowls down and I put the fish fillet from one taco in it. I divide the other piece in half between the two tacos and eat them myself, but we can each eat one."

Chandler followed Kurt's directions while Kurt took Queenie's leash and harness off and put them away. He came back in the room to find Queenie delicately eating her piece of fish.

"Okay, you're right. This is adorable," Chandler agreed. "She eats it like she's at a fancy dinner."

"I know. I told her it was a super special treat and that she needed to enjoy it and she was like that the from the very first time."

"How often do you do this?"

"Usually just once a month, but sometimes twice."

They ate the tacos and threw the trash out and watched Queenie finish up. As Kurt leaned down to pick the bowl up, there was a knock at the door. He picked Queenie up and put the bowl in the dishwasher, leaving Chandler to open the door. He looked through the peephole and saw Rachel. He unlocked the locks, and when he opened the door, he was greeted by six people standing on the landing.

"Surprise!"

Chandler laughed. "I definitely am." He opened the door back and let everyone inside. As they walked past, he noticed pizza boxes, drinks, and a box from a bakery.

Brian put the pizzas on the counter. And Rachel put the box from the bakery on the table. Kinzy and Lara got out birthday themed paper plates and napkins and some plastic forks. Carlen put the cans of soda on the other part of the counter.

Kurt put Queenie in her bed with the carrier part zipped in place to make her feel cozy and safe while everyone was coming in. Quinn collected everyone's jackets and met Kurt coming out of the bedroom.

* * *

"Where should I put these?"

"Oh, here." He flipped up a bar on the back of the door. "We hang them up here." He took a hanger out of the closet and took the first jacket from her.

"Got it." She looked around. "I like your room."

"Thanks."

"I want to tell you something that only Rachel knows right now."

"Okay."

She and Kurt continued to work to get the jackets hung up as she talked.

"There's no point in beating around the bush. Beth is living with me in New Haven. We had the adoption undone, redone, whatever. Beth is legally mine. Last year when I got into the accident, that was part of the struggle. Rachel talked me out of having Shelby prosecuted and losing her ability to teach. I thought long and hard though and I pressed Shelby to leave McKinley and get counseling. I made her swear that should would never attempt to work with high school students again. He was 18, but she crossed a boundary she shouldn't have."

"What are you talking about?"

"Shelby slept with Puck."

"Oh. I didn't know. But yes, sleeping with a student crosses the line, even if the student is 18. Go on."

"I applied to Yale early admission because I wanted to be on the East Coast close enough to Shelby to let her continue to have a role in Beth's life for Beth's sake. I know you know I moved to New Haven when school got out. That's why. We started to transition Beth. She stayed with me on the weekends in June and then for longer and longer until she was staying with me all the time except for two weekends a month. Now, we're doing one to two weekends a month, like grandparent visitation. We've taught her to call Shelby Gammy. I got her in speech therapy because she was behind, but she's caught up now. Shelby's in therapy still. She's clinically depressed. She has been for quite a while. We were all so young when everything happened back then, but she catfished Rachel in a way. She forced Jesse to get close to Rachel so that Rachel would figure out that Shelby was her mom before she turned 18 and had the ability to contact her. She was reaching out, but it was the wrong way. I didn't really know any of that then. Anyway, Shelby lives here in the City still. Beth is at her place this weekend. Rachel's going to start going to therapy with her once a month to start with and they're going to attempt to work through their issues. Shelby really hurt Rachel. I was post-partum hormonally imbalanced and freaked out. I was 15. My mom had just offered to take me back. It was a nightmare. But I was never happy that I had given her up. I am now though. It's hard to be a single mom, but I feel right about everything now."

"Okay." Kurt opened his arms and held her. "Okay."

"I'm sorry I pushed you away. You were there for me. After I let Beth go, I just couldn't be close to you. I knew you would have helped me then, but I was such a wreck. I went on anti-depressants for a while and then stopped them the summer before senior year."

"When you decided to become a skank."

"Yes. I had the tattoo redone this summer right after graduation. God, that hurt."

"You know I'll still support you, right?" He hugged her tight. "I get to make her some dresses, right?"

"Of course." She stepped back and took his hand to go back out to join everyone.

* * *

Just as the two of them came out of the bedroom, there was knock at the door. Kurt looked out the peephole to see the rest of their guests.

"Sorry we're late," Adam said. "Our train broke down. At least they fixed it quickly enough."

"Come on in. We haven't started to eat yet. You're just in time."

Adam and Dahlia stepped inside. Adam pulled the snacks out of the bag he had and put them on the stove.

"Alright," Kurt said to get everyone's attention. "We're going to sing and then eat." He started and everyone joined in.

* * *

"'Dust in the Wind'," Rachel guessed.

"No," Dahlia said.

"Time's up," Adam said. He took Dahlia's card and put it back in the stack.

Kurt drew a card and put up his index finger and cupped his ear with his other hand.

"First word," Quinn said. "Sounds like…"

Kurt pretended to be stuck in a box. He noticed Brian zipping and unzipping his hoodie.

"Box," Adam guessed.

Kurt shook his head no. He tried to keep the smile off of his face when he noticed Carlen reach over and take Brian's hand and interlace their fingers. Brian smiled and visibly relaxed.

"Mime," Quinn offered.

Kurt pointed at her and nodded. He held up one finger again and pointed to the top of his wrist.

"Time!" Quinn nearly shouted.

Kurt nodded. He put up three fingers and repeated the action.

"Time?" Brian asked.

Kurt nodded.

Adam popped up onto his knees. "Time After Time."

"Yes!"

Quinn said, "Well, that puts us at 3-0, so the best out of five goes to us. Do you want to keep going or switch games?"

The consensus was to play a new game. After another 45 minutes, Dahlia, Adam, Rachel, and Quinn needed to leave.

Chandler and Kurt grabbed their jackets and saw them out.

"Thanks for coming and surprising me." He hugged each of them as they left.

"We had fun," Rachel said. "We'd stay for the movie, but Quinn's taking the train back to New Haven really early tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, and I have to be at work at 6:00," Dahlia said. "The early mornings of a barista," she teased. "But the tips are good, so I can't complain."

Kinzy, Lara, Brian, and Carlen stayed to watch _The Prestige_. Kurt pulled out three large bowls to put the chips, pretzels, and cheese puffs that were sitting on the counter in them, but then he remembered how much hearing people crunch bothered Brian, so he put the bowls back. He went back into the living room and looked at the other four sitting on the sofa. "Let's pull the bed part out and we can all stretch out."

Chandler heard him as he came back in from seeing the others out. The other four got up and Chandler and Kurt worked together quickly to transform the sectional into its bed form. He pulled out the comforter they had for it and put it over the top. They all got comfortable and Kurt turned the lights of and started the movie.

He sat back and Chandler sat between his knees and leaned back onto his chest, giving the other four more room to sit.

* * *

When Chandler got in bed, he scooted up behind Kurt and Queenie settled in behind his knees. "I had a great birthday. My surprise birthday party was a lot of fun."

"I'm glad you had a good time." He pushed back until there was not space left between them. "I saw Carlen and Brian holding hands."

"Yeah, they're casually dating exclusively, Brian told me. Something about mostly just hanging out as friends and getting to know each other better, but not dating other people in the meantime."

"Sounds like what I thought I'd do with you – spend time getting to know you, but not date anyone else."

Chandler chuckled and kissed along Kurt's shoulder. "Mmm hmm. And then you asked me to be your boyfriend the next day."

"Excellent idea on my part, if I do say so myself."

"I love you so much." He continued to kissed Kurt's neck and shoulder.

"I love you too."

* * *

Ten days later, Marlene and Janine picked them up at the Toledo airport.

They met them outside and Chandler was quickly pulled into a hug by Janine. "I've missed you so much. The idea of waiting until now was terrible."

He hugged her back. "You're right. I missed you too, even though we talk every day."

"We have a surprise," she said as Marlene opened the trunk for them to put their bags in.

"What's the surprise?" Kurt asked.

"What kind of surprise would it be if I tell you?" Janine sassed back sweetly. "You'll see."

Marlene drove them to Chandler's favorite flea market before they drove back to Lima. The four of them wandered through the sections that had the booths with clothes and things they could use for projects. Kurt and Chandler both bought quite a few buttons. Kurt found a vintage leather jacket that was absolute beyond repair as far as being worn, but would make excellent accents for bags and jackets. Marlene found a dress she fell in love with and Janine found a vintage '80s broomstick skirt that she just had to have.

When they got in line, Kurt gave Chandler his stuff. "I'll be right back. I'm going to go check the tool booths really quickly." He took off not quite jogging and looked through them and hurried back to the front and got back in line with Chandler.

"What did you find?"

"A full set of ratcheting wrenches for about a quarter of the regular price. They've never even been used from what I can tell. We used them at the shop all the time. My dad's hard to buy for and he loves tools. Plus, I found a few vintage tools that he'll love. We can leave them here and my he'll love getting them for Christmas."

"What do you want for Christmas?"

He leaned into Chandler and spoke directly into his ear, "Just you and Queenie and me to relax and watch movies and eat leftovers."

"So, no gifts?"

"Of course, gifts. But it doesn't have to be a physical object." He leaned into Chandler.

"What's up? You're sad about something."

"Queenie. I didn't think about having to leave her in New York for the five days we're here."

"Adam's with her. She likes him well enough."

"I know, but I feel bad."

"Me too. We'll take her out for a fish taco when we get back Sunday. And then we'll all snuggle and watch a movie."

Kurt spoke into Chandler's ear again, "Where I pet you and you pet her?"

"Mmm hmm. And then we'll switch."

Janine turned around to ask them something right at that moment and caught the end of what Chandler said and her cheeks turned bright red.

Kurt couldn't figure out why for a second. He started to laugh and shook his head no. "We're talking about missing Queenie."

"Oh, right. It's too bad you couldn't bring her, but she would have been alone a lot of the time here as well with us going to Grandma's and stuff."

"That's true," Kurt said. "You're up," he looked behind Janine at the check out.

* * *

Marlene dropped the three of them off at Kurt's. When they went in, they didn't see anyone.

Kurt called out, "Carole?"

"In here, honey," she answered back from the kitchen. "Puck, Sarah, Brittany, and Lexi are at Finn's. They're playing _Mario Kart_. Santana is out of town for the afternoon I think they said."

"We're going to take our stuff up first. We'll be back down."

Janine headed through the garage to go to Finn's apartment.

When they got to the top of the stairs, they went into the bedroom.

"It looks just like I had imagined it would. It's a lot nicer now with the two closets and the bathroom being en suite instead of across the hall. It didn't take much to redo it. And it gives them a place to store stuff like their Christmas stuff since there's no attic or basement while still giving guests a whole closet to themselves."

"This layout makes it look like this is a guest suite rather than the leftovers from an upstairs remodel that never got finished."

They unpacked their clothes and hung them up and slid their suitcases under the bed.

"Ready to go play video games?"

"Not quite." He stepped closer and kissed Kurt. "Okay. I'm ready now."

* * *

As soon as they stepped into Finn's apartment, Finn pulled Kurt into a bear hug. "It's been too long. Way too long. Almost five months. Come on in."

"Wow, everything looks great," Kurt said.

"You helped pick stuff out. It ought to look great," he teased.

Brittany hugged Kurt and then Chandler. She turned towards the TV. "That's my little sister, Lexi."

Lexi looked up briefly and waved, but went right back to the game.

"My mom's home cooking and Lexi wanted to play with Sarah, so I picked her up and came over here. I missed you two."

"How's college?" Chandler asked.

"I love it there. Being a cheerleader is still super fun. And school is so much easier now. I'm making good grades. This guy my counselor contacted designed a font for my laptop that makes the letters appear in the right color when I type. I can type sooo much faster now. And when I'm done with the paper, I can click "Save As" and save it with a regular black font that my professors like."

"That's really amazing. And it sounds perfect."

"It really is. I also met two other people like me. They see different colors than I do, but it's still kind of nice to know that I'm not the only one. Like I always wondered if I was kind of crazy. I know people thought I was, but now I know I'm just special."

"That you are, Britt. That you are."

She ran her hand along his face. "I didn't know you could grow a beard. I like it. Come play _Mario Kart_. I'll ride on the back of your car and throw things at everyone else." She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him over to the TV. "Chandler can be on Janine's team instead of me. I brought our Wiimotes, so all of us can play at the same time."

* * *

Finn's every food fantasy Thanksgiving came true at Janine and Chandler's grandma's house on Thanksgiving Day. Their family was just as warm and welcoming as they had been on the Fourth of July. They spent the day eating, much to Finn's delight, and playing games, talking, and watching football games.

* * *

Friday morning long before the sun came up, Kurt's alarm went off. He reached out and grabbed his phone and turned it off. "Chandler, why did we agree to this? I wanted to sleep in and do _other things_ this morning. Me and you and no one else." He ran his fingers along Chandler's arm, causing him to shiver.

"Because the girls goaded you into it. They praised your bargain finding skills until they had inflated your ego to the point where you couldn't say 'no'. They are very tricky and they got Brittany to help them. I swear that girl could get you to do anything."

"She's sweet, but you are so hot. I really had _other_ plans for this morning." He moved his hands down to Chandler's chest and slowly lower. He looked Chandler in the eye, asking permission.

Chandler rolled onto his back giving Kurt more room to work with. "I like your ideas. We'll pretend like we overslept. Please go ahead with your idea. _Please_."

* * *

Rachel called them 30 minutes later. "Are you two ready to go?"

"Almost. We overslept. Give us five minutes."

"No more than five. We're out here waiting in the dark.”

"We'll be right down." Kurt rushed to grab a hat he had brought with him on his way into the bathroom to brush his teeth again.

Chandler pulled a deep red soft sweater over his head and ran his fingers through his hair before putting on a multi-colored blue and deep read beanie on. He passed Kurt on the way into the bathroom to brush his teeth yet again as well. Kurt had his black Docs on unlaced when Chandler came back out.

"Good idea. I can lace them in the car. Let's go." He slipped his feet into the boots he had gotten for his birthday and they rushed down the stairs.

They grabbed their coats and headed out the front door to get into Carole's car. Rachel and Quinn got out of Hiram's car when they came out. Kurt hit the remote and they got in the backseat. Kurt got into the driver's seat and adjusted it. He pulled out of the driveway and headed towards the outlet mall not far from Westerville. He was glad they had the forethought to put their overnight bags in the trunk the night before.

Rachel pointed out, "Mercedes, Tina, Brittany, Santana, Unique, and Marley left ten minutes ago."

"We'll get there in plenty of time. I can't really imagine there being a giant line outside the Columbia Outlet Store, which is where we're all meeting. Real winter boots and coats for everyone who doesn't have one, except for Mercedes who doesn't need one and Unique who says she has one. And definitely some winter boots for Brittany and Santana. And then we're off to look for clothes for everyone. And we are having lunch at that pizza place. At least Chandler and I are. And all of you are treating. It's my fee for my expert shopping advice."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Sure. That can't be more than a couple of dollars a piece."

* * *

After a long day of bargain shopping, everyone had pretty much found what they had been looking for. Kurt and Chandler ended up picking up a couple of gifts for Christmas, but nothing else. They said their goodbyes. Rachel and Quinn headed back headed back to Lima with the other girls. Kurt and Chandler headed south to meet up with Sebastian and Adrien.

They pulled into the lot of the coffee shop that Sebastian had given them the address to and parked. After they had theirs drinks, they went to sit with the Warblers that had pushed several tables together. Kurt was surprised to see Wes and a couple of the other Warblers that had graduated the year he went to Dalton.

From the conversation, the former Warblers had obviously gone to Dalton to observe their final rehearsal before Sectionals the next day.

"You've done a good job, Sebastian," Wes said. "After some serious missteps last year, you've gotten your act together and you all looked good and sounded great." He looked up when Kurt and Chandler approached the end table. "Hey, Kurt. Long time, no see. I hear you're in New York now."

Kurt nodded. He grabbed an extra chair from another table for Chandler. "We are. This is Chandler, my boyfriend. He goes to NYU. I'm at FIT."

Chandler waved and smiled as he sat down. Kurt scooted his chair up against Chandler's and sat down as well.

Wes looked a bit off, but Kurt ignored it.

Sebastian stepped in to get the conversation going again. "Any tips on beating the New Directions tomorrow?" he asked teasingly.

"Well, I'm afraid it might not take much. I haven't seen them practice, but they're practically a brand new group. They only have four returning members from last year, so the fact that a lot of you have been singing together for three to four years will give you an automatic advantage. And I know that Sebastian has everyone up and dancing, so that hurdle has already been jumped. The girls did say today that they had to recruit two of the jazz band members like we did last fall to have 12 people. However, they do have Unique Adams, who is a junior and was the MVP at Nationals last year. She's a real powerhouse, but it depends on whether Mr. Schue has come up with a way to use her voice to their advantage the way Vocal Adrenaline did last year."

Wes nodded, but kept looking towards the door, making Kurt wonder what or who he was glancing at. Kurt didn't have to wait long to see that it was Blaine. He came in the door and Wes waved. Kurt scooted back just enough to not be in Blaine's line of sight. Once he moved towards the line, Kurt moved back up to the table.

He glanced at Chandler, who hadn't noticed Blaine come in. Kurt tried to rein in his scattered thoughts. "It was nice to see everyone, but we're going to go."

Sebastian looked at him with a concerned look. "You just got here." He hadn't seen Blaine come in because his back was to the door.

Kurt lowered his voice, responding in French. _"My ex-boyfriend just walked in. We're leaving. Text me and we'll meet you somewhere else."_

Chandler looked at him just as confused.

Wes looked at Kurt. "I didn't know. No one told me you were coming and even if they had no one told me that you and Blaine had broken up. I knew that he had gone to California to stay with Cooper over the summer because my oldest brother is friends with Cooper. James told me yesterday that he was meeting up with Cooper this afternoon to hang out with some of the guys he went to Dalton with, so I invited Blaine to come hang out with us."

"Blaine is living in California with Cooper now. He goes to some performing arts high school. We're going to go. This doesn't need to get tense. Blaine was a Warbler longer than I was."

"Surely we can all be adults," Wes said.

"I'm pretty sure we can't," Kurt said. He stood up.

Adrien spoke up for the first time. "I agree with Kurt based on the only time I had any interaction with Blaine."

Kurt and Chandler stood up and almost made to the end of the table to go out the side door to the coffee shop, when Blaine caught sight of them and walked away from where he had been standing waiting for his drink.

"Well, if it isn't my cheating ex-boyfriend with the guy he cheated on me with." Blaine was speaking much louder than necessary.

David hopped up and ushered Blaine into his chair to get people to quit staring. He grabbed another one and pulled it up alongside Blaine. "Have you been drinking? You didn't drive here, did you?"

"No and yes. I mean yes and no. I did have some wine coolers, and no I didn't drive. Cooper dropped me off and told me to call him to find out where to meet him afterwards and to get one of you to drive me there. Oh, and he said to have a large coffee and a big glass of water."

"You don't have any water or coffee," David pointed out. "I'll take care of that." He looked at Nick and raised his eyebrow.

"My coffee should be ready," Blaine said.

Nick nodded and got up.

Kurt steeled himself. He was just going to walk away, but he changed his mind. He went back and sat in the seat he had been sitting in. Chandler followed him.

"I did not cheat on Blaine."

"You did," Blaine responded in a too loud voice.

David put his hand on Blaine's shoulder and chastised him, "This is not the time or place for this type of conversation. Keep your voice down or I'm going to help you outside until you can."

"Right, right," Blaine said. "God, why did I come back to Ohio?"

Nick came back with a large ice water with a straw and his coffee. "Drink this, Blaine. You need to sober up. You're embarrassing yourself."

"I'm already an embarrassment to my family. Why not to the Warblers?" he asked, his voice still too loud.

David picked up the cup of water and stood up. "Let's go sit outside for a few minutes. This ice water and the cold air ought to do you some good. Your coffee will be the right temperature to drink when we get back and Wes will get you some food."

Nick helped David get Blaine up on his feet and out the door.

Nick came back in and sat down.

Kurt felt like everyone's eyes were on him. He closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. "Blaine and I broke up before Chandler and I started dating. There is no truth to his assertion that I cheated on him." He sighed. "As much as I appreciate being included by Sebastian today, I think I'll bow out from any future get-togethers. Blaine was a Warbler before I was."

Jeff spoke up. "You have every right to be here. Him showing up drunk in the afternoon is not good. It sounded like family problems to me. I don't know that any of us can do anything for him, but David's out there with him for now. We'll talk to him when they come back in."

"That's a good idea. We just don't need to be here for that. Most of you were friends with him before you met me. I have a supportive family and so does Chandler. His family accepted me from day one. Blaine needs someone to support him. I had hoped it would be Cooper, and maybe he is being supportive. Who knows? But Chandler and I will head out. It was nice to see everyone. I don't want people to take sides. Blaine made a lot of mistakes, but a lot of people do." He stood up again.

He and Chandler headed out to a nearby bookstore to wait for Sebastian's text.

* * *

When Sebastian and Adrien arrived at the bookstore, Wes was with them.

"Let's go for a drive. Your dad's a congressman. Mine is a judge on the Ohio Supreme Court. Sebastian's dad is the State's Attorney General. The three of us do not need to discuss private issues in a public place."

Kurt nodded. "Let me pay for this book and I'll be right out. It's one of Carole's favorite authors. It's on sale today 40% off."

"Sure."

When Kurt went out to the parking lot, he put the book in one of his shopping bags in his trunk. Wes pulled up with the other three already in the backseat. He got in the front and Wes drove out of the parking lot.


	28. Chapter 28

Wes drove them to the Best Buy parking lot down a little ways from the bookstore. He turned the engine off and took a deep breath. “Look, Kurt, I really didn’t know that the two of you had broken up. And it turns out that I didn’t know a lot of other things.”

“I get that. I’m not upset with you at all. You and Blaine were friends. You and David sat down with him to talk to me when I came to spy.”

“Obviously, I didn’t keep up my end of our friendship. He’s living full-time in California with Cooper now.”

“I know. He attends a performing arts high school, which sounds really cool. I don’t know which one or anything – just the concept sounds like something I would have loved.”

“I’m going to tell you things that are probably on the level of gossip, but he sat and said every bit of it out loud in a public place in front of about 15 people, so it’s hardly a secret at this point.”

Kurt nodded.

“He stayed at Cooper’s over the summer, but his place is just a 1-bedroom. Cooper asked his parents for the money to cover the difference between his 1-bedroom place and a 2-bedroom place when his lease is up in December. He really likes the school in California and he wants to go to UCLA and keep living with Cooper. Their father said that he would consider it, but that they had to come back for Thanksgiving and paid for plane tickets. His father spent last year in Qatar working to set up some banking thing. They agreed to let Blaine live with Mrs. Anderson’s aunt in Lima. She went to Lima and stayed some weekends to spend time with Blaine.”

“Okay,” Kurt said, processing what Wes was saying.

Sebastian started telling the story from there. “But yesterday it got ugly because Mr. Anderson’s father, Mr. Anderson Senior for lack of a better name to use, overheard them talking in the study when he arrived for Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. His father is going back to Qatar in a few days and only came home to spend Thanksgiving with the family. He planned to talk about the money issue and he wanted to talk to Blaine and Cooper in person before he made his decision since they aren’t known for getting along. Mr. Anderson Senior told them that he would get Blaine reinstated at Dalton to finish out his senior year to graduate from a ‘respectable institution of learning’. He said something how boys following the organ in their pants rather than their brains doesn’t lead to success. Blaine was given another lecture about keeping his homosexuality private and not being an embarrassment to the Anderson family name.”

“I see.”

Wes started again. “His grandfather took him aside after their dinner and insisted that he go for a walk with him and berated his ‘lifestyle choices’ – including, but not limited to the way he dresses, his interest in performing arts, and being gay. When they came back, his father took him for a drive and dropped a bombshell in his lap by showing him a photo of the man he’s in love with in Qatar. He’s a professor at some university there. He took the 2-year assignment there to coincide with the 2-year position that Mr. Anderson took.”

“No way!” Kurt exclaimed. “So, his father’s not homophobic like he thought. His father is gay or bi and cheating on his mom?”

“Gay,” Sebastian supplied.

“Well, this is the perfect plot for a telenovela,” Chandler said.

“So, basically Blaine has felt like his father didn’t accept him ever since he came out and it was really that his father was caught between living the life his own father wanted with a wife and kids and living the life he wanted with a man. What a mess.”

“And now he knows that his father is cheating on his mom,” Adrien pointed out. “He broke down over that.”

“Wait,” Kurt said. “I’m confused about something. Mr. Anderson Senior wants to send Blaine back to Dalton because it’s a ‘proper’ school. Blaine went to school some place else before Dalton.”

“Not for high school,” Wes said. “I was a junior when he started his freshman year. At the end of my sophomore year, David and I were elected to the Warbler Council with Charles who graduated the year before you came. At the beginning of the next school year, we were approached by several members of the group to change the Warblers from a glorified barbershop quartet that stood in a single formation and sang music from the ‘50s and early ‘60s to a show choir that would sing modern music a cappella. Blaine was a freshman, as were Nick, Jeff, Trent, Thad, and Beatz. They all knew each other from middle school. They convinced Ian, who was a senior and sang bass to join them and give a demonstration of their idea. They were an instant hit. Everyone jumped ship and wanted to sing Top 40 songs. Blaine had done such a good job of being the entertaining and engaging front man that he was quickly voted in as the lead singer. We kept the Warbler Council, but added the lead singer position to the group. We won our Sectionals that first year, but we competed against the deaf school, the elderly group, and one other small school. We spent the rest of the year perfecting our harmonies and learning to arrange music so that we sounded like a vocal band. We sounded great at Regionals, but we faced Vocal Adrenaline and lost. When Charles was about to graduate, Thad was voted in to replace him.”

“That answered fewer questions than it created,” Kurt said. “But it did answer my longstanding curiosity about Blaine’s celebrity status.”

Wes chuckled and nodded. “The group had prestige because it had been around since the founding of Dalton. It had been always an honor to get chosen to be in the group, but Blaine was the one that raised the Warblers to ‘rock star’ status when he implemented the impromptu performances and entertained the student body.”

“A lot of things make a lot more sense now.” 

“What questions did it create?” Wes asked.

“He told me that he was bullied at his old school.”

“Oh. I don’t know anything about that,” Wes said. “I guess you could ask Nick or Jeff. They went to middle school with him. Cooper and Liam, my brother, have been friends since middle school. I didn’t know Blaine back then. When they met in middle school, they would have been 12. I was four. Blaine would have been two. I have another brother, Niles, who is four years older than I am. Anyway, I’m not sure I can be of much help about things that happened before my junior year since that’s when he and I met.”

Sebastian spoke up again. “I think the anger from the last couple of days fueled his outburst about you and Chandler. On the upside, he has a new boyfriend. Once he sobered up, he quit talking about his family’s secrets and started to talk about himself. His new boyfriend is a cellist. He didn’t say much else about him. He just showed us some photos. By the time Blaine was ready to meet up with Cooper, he had calmed down. And he swore everyone to not tell their parents or family members about what he had said about his family, falling back on the line about the Warblers being a sacred brotherhood.”

“I don’t remember that line.”

“That’s because Blaine fast-tracked you into being a Warbler. All of the traditions of inducting you into the group were skipped. It was his pull that got you accepted into the group right before a competition. If you hadn’t had his backing and had come to me or one of the other council members, you would have been told to come audition during reading week at the end of the semester or the first week of the spring term.”

“I see.”

“I’d like to apologize for how I behaved when you transferred, Kurt. I was suspicious and ridiculous. You offered suggestions with the best of intentions. I was cold and that was really wrong of me. You came to Dalton for a reason, which you were not obligated to tell us. It was our job to help you make a smooth transition and succeed. I didn’t do that. And others followed my lead. I left it to Blaine and I think he dropped the ball. He was supposed to tell you that suggestions for songs, as well as suggestions on ways to present them, had to be turned in to the Council anonymously so as to give everyone a fair shot at having their idea chosen. David and I were seniors and in the midst of filling out early admission applications for college. We left it up to him to get you up to snuff on how we did things.”

“When he came out to tell me that I wasn’t moving on to the next round after I sang “Don’t Cry for me Argentina”, he told me not to try so hard and that I should remember hat everyone wore a blazer for a reason.”

“I told him to tell you that your performance was beautiful, but that your song choice would not work for a vocal band. He was supposed to give you pointers on what type of song to sing the next you were given a chance to audition since he obviously failed to mention that you were auditioning to perform the song you presented as the lead singer.”

“Wait, what? I sang a song that showcased my voice since no one had heard me sing.”

“I figured, which is why I told him to give you pointers about auditioning for solos. After that, you became more withdrawn. I thought you had other issues to deal with and just let you be. I didn’t know that he was undermining your efforts so that he could stay at the top.”

“You mentioned not knowing why I transferred to Dalton. It was because someone at McKinley had threatened to kill me.”

“Are you serious?” Wes was stunned.

“Yes, of course I’m serious. My dad wasn’t a congressman then. When the student’s expulsion was overturned by the school board after he’d been out of school for three days, my dad used the money he had saved to take my almost stepmother on a honeymoon to enroll me at Dalton ”

“That’s…I don’t even know what to say.”

“There really isn’t anything to say. It happened. It’s over. A lot of things happened, some of them really bad. But I’m happy now. Chandler and I have made a life for ourselves in New York. I was serious earlier though. If Blaine’s going to be attending a Warblers event of some sort, I’d rather not, at least for a while. He did a lot of really hurtful things to me personally, but I don’t want to discuss those or for those things to become part of Warbler knowledge. He’s an iconic member of the group. He changed the course of the group and they are really fantastic because he and the others went out on a limb. He deserves to be part of the group that he made great, even if it was only for two years. Dalton offered me a safe haven for long enough to make it safe for me to go back to McKinley. Taking out school breaks, I was there for what, five months? Being mostly ignored for five months was nothing compared to the two and a half years I had survived prior to that, so just let it go. We live and learn. Next time, if there is a next time, take time to get to know the new guy. Don’t make assumptions.”

“Good point.” He switched the topic back to Blaine. “I took Blaine back to meet Cooper. The three of us talked for a couple of minutes. Blaine has some videos of things he’s been in at school so far this year. Cooper was impressed with the school and the quality of their productions, so he’s confident that their father will be fine with it and will help him with their living expenses. Blaine was just panicking, understandably so. Tonight and tomorrow will be a hard couple of days.”

“Yeah,” Kurt said. “Especially for his mom, if Mr. Anderson tells her the truth.”

Wes reached for the key in the ignition. “Unless there’s something else you want to ask, I’ll take all of you back to the bookstore.”

“No. I think some things will just go unanswered.”

Wes pulled out of the parking lot to take them back.

* * *

“Draw two,” Chandler said as he place the blue card on the top of the stack.

Sebastian picked up two cards and slipped them into the ones in his hands. 

Adrien laid a blue 8 card down.

Kurt looked over at his phone. _Ten minutes left on the pizza in the oven_. He looked up and laid down a green 8.

Chandler huffed and drew a card.

They continued to play until the pizza was done. There had been a lot of silence over the course of the evening after Sebastian confirmed that he and Adrien were going to attend university in Paris.

“Start saving up,” Sebastian said. “We want you to come stay with us in June. It’s nice weather and there aren’t nearly as many tourists because Parisians are off in July and August, not June. Schools are still in session too.”

“We both need to work over the summer,” Kurt said automatically.

Sebastian paused to think. “You could come back to Lima as soon as school gets out and you could work at your dad’s shop for four weeks.”

“That’s not going to help me stay gainfully employed in New York – the opposite in fact. Telling my boss I need four weeks off in June would be hard enough to pull off. It’s not like part-time workers get paid vacations. Telling him that I need two months off would more than likely result in him telling me that he’ll find someone to fill my position.”

“Hmm,” Sebastian didn’t have another response right away. “Employers have to be used to hiring students from other states to work. At least find out.”

“It’s not just me. There’s Chandler’s job too. And Queenie.”

“Okay, I get it. Never mind. It’s too complicated.”

“I’m sorry, Sebastian. I knew you’d choose to go back to Paris, but there was this little tiny sliver of hope that you two would go to school in New York somewhere.”

Sebastian nodded. “There’s a _Vogue_ office in Paris. Maybe you could somehow work out taking a class or two in Paris and get an internship at _Vogue_ there?”

Adrien added, “There has to be some way to take Queenie to France.”

“I’ll start doing some research. I really would love to go.”

“Maybe Brian or Kinzy and Lara would consider paying the rent on our place and staying with her,” Chandler said. “She likes them well enough. Or maybe Adam would be interested. We could charge them less than the full rent for their cat-sitting services.”

Kurt picked his phone up and texted Blaine. 

\--Please call me when you have time. I have questions that I’d like answers to.

He put it back down. 

“How about Trivial Pursuit when we finish?” Chandler asked.

“How about Dominoes? I found a double 12 set,” Sebastian counter-offered.

“Sure,” Chandler agreed. 

Kurt’s phone pinged with a response.

_\--I can’t call. We’re “bonding” over a movie, except my father is already asleep. If I talk, he’ll wake up. Cooper is already on his phone. What do you want to ask me?_

\--Why did you lie to me about being bullied at your “previous” school?

Kurt went back to arranging his dominoes while he waited for a response.

_\--Honestly…because you looked so delicate and you were crying. I thought someone was calling you names for the obviously gay way you dressed. I thought if I said that I wished I had stood up that it would inspire you to have some backbone. That’s why I texted you the word “courage” all those times. I thought you were being a bit of a drama queen._

Before Kurt responded, he got another text.

_\--When I went to McKinley that day, I realized that Karofsky was significantly bigger and more antagonistic than I had anticipated._

Kurt rolled his eyes. He looked through his choices and laid a domino out on the table. 

_\--Then when you transferred, I liked that feeling of being needed and the feeling of you looking up to me like I had something valuable to offer you._

\--Why the fast track to being a Warbler? Why not just let me get settled in and then audition at the end of the semester like I should have?

_\--I see you got information from someone today. I got Wes to let you join because I thought that the New Direction knowing that we had you would throw them off at Sectionals._

\--So, it had nothing to do with my talent?

_\--I hadn’t heard you sing._

\--And the Sadie Hawkins dance?

Kurt got several texts in a row since he was slow to respond because he read through each one more than once.

_\--A true story, but not mine. I heard some guy tell it in one of those It Gets Better videos. After the confrontation with Karofsky at that fundraiser, I really just didn’t want to have anything to do with being around him, but after I told you the story, you said we could both have our redemption, and I felt like I had to do it. I had kept telling you to be courageous, so I agreed._

_\--And by the way, I still agree with your dad. The kilt was a dumb idea. You were just being headstrong and you brought a lot of that upon yourself and Karofsky. If you had just gone with a regular suit, that whole prank would have been a lot less likely._

_\--That and Santana making Karofsky wear that stupid red satin jacket and beret to school and walk you to class. She set up him for being mocked. She’s a bigger bully than he was._

Kurt finally responded.

\--Probably true about Santana. All you had to say was you didn’t want to go. I offered to go see a movie and go out to dinner instead. I’d rather you have been honest with me.

He didn’t get a response.

\--Why did you transfer to McKinley?

_\--After you brought it up, I thought about it. My great aunt is old and I knew I'd have complete freedom to do whatever I wanted most of the time. She goes to bed at 8 and takes out her hearing aids. And I really wanted to go to Nationals and get to be in plays or musicals, which Dalton doesn't do. The thought of getting straight As without putting much effort into it appealed to me as well._

His answer, while hurtful, did make sense.

\--You need to get over yourself about Chandler. You had been skipping our dates. You had been checking out of our relationship for quite a while. I’m not even sure that you ever loved me, which doesn’t matter at this point. I did not cheat on you. Your outburst this afternoon was ridiculous. Being drunk just makes people say exactly what they mean, but would never say while sober and their filters are working. You attacked my character. That was really uncalled for. As far as I knew, you were in California. I told Wes that I won’t be coming to anything Warbler related for a while, maybe ever. I’d like to ask the same of you about the New Directions. We each competed with one of the groups for one competition season. 

_\--That’s not fair to ask me to not go and spend time with the group I won Nationals with._

\--It’s not fair that you obviously lack the ability to be civil as evidenced by this afternoon.

_\--I’m going to the New Directions party tomorrow evening. You can’t stop me. And to answer the question you said you don’t need an answer to. I loved how much you loved me. No one had ever loved me unconditionally, but it wasn’t unconditional from you either. At least my new boyfriend puts out. Sex is great. I bet you still won’t put out for Chandler. How long do you think it will be before he gets tired of holding hands and kissing and wants a real man?_

\--Unconditional love doesn’t mean that someone puts up with being used and manipulated. I did love you. You didn’t trust me or my love for you. I hope you’re getting help.

Kurt blocked his number. He looked up and realized that the other three had been playing without him when Adrien laid his last domino down.

“I’m sorry. I’m done with my phone. Can I still go with you to the party you’re going to tomorrow evening?”

“Sure. Is that what the texts were about? Did they cancel the New Directions party?”

They all drew dominoes to start a new game.

“No, that was me asking Blaine to let me have the New Directions since I gave up going to the Warblers’ event today and him telling me that he’s going tomorrow evening no matter what. That they’re his friends too.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Adrien stated resolutely.

“I agree with Adrien,” Sebastian said. “I was annoyed that he got all of the attention this afternoon. I get what Wes said about his rise to fame, but that was four years ago. He shifted the whole get-together to focus on him.”

Kurt raised his eyebrows and tipped his head to the side. “Shocking,” he said as he rolled his eyes. “That’s _never_ happened before.”

“Right,” Sebastian chuckled. “Never.” He shook his head. 

“So, he gets everyone and you get no one?” Adrien asked.

“Seems so,” Kurt said and laid out the double 12 he had drawn.

“You’re just going to let him?” Sebastian asked incredulously.

“What good will fighting him do? I’m going to go with Chandler and I’ll have fun. All of his friends were always nice to me. I spent the day today with the girls. I spent yesterday with my family and Chandler’s family. The only other guys that I actually know that will be there would be Artie, Joe, Puck, and Mike, who lives in New York now. We don’t talk much, but we won’t talk anymore by me going to the party.”

“It’s still not right,” Sebastian said.

“But it’s okay,” Kurt said, remembering the way he felt when Blaine blasted him with it the previous spring. “Seeing him once was one too many times. He hasn’t been around Rachel in a long time. I think he’ll be unpleasantly surprised to find out that she’s Team Chandler now. His Thanksgiving break has been profoundly worse than mine. I’m just going to let it go. If I had just found out that my dad, who I thought was homophobic, was actually gay and had been cheating on my mom for who knows how long, I would be a mess too. We can renegotiate the division of Glee clubs some other time.”

Chandler said, “You’re right. We’ll have fun still. Or you could always stay home and do something with your parents by yourself. Whatever you want.” He squeezed Kurt’s hand.

Kurt participated in the rest of the evening’s activities. He pushed everything seeing Blaine had brought up to the back of his mind. He had been looking forward to spending time with Sebastian and Adrien and he wasn’t going to let Blaine’s nonsense get to him. 

* * *

After they showered, Kurt and Chandler got in bed. Kurt took a deep breath and grabbed his phone and pulled up the texts from Blaine and handed it to Chandler to read through them.

“No wonder you looked the way you did when you put your phone down.” He gave the phone back and rolled onto his side. “Face me, please.”

Kurt plugged his phone back in and turned to face Chandler.

Chandler ran his hand along the side of Kurt’s face, running his fingers through the scruff. “You’re amazing and kind. He, on the other hand, is neither. He seems to know just how to hurt you, though.” Chandler scooted closer and raised his knee enough that Kurt could slip his leg through and pulled him closer.

Kurt slipped his knee into the space and scooted so they were lying nearly flush. “He did know how to manipulate me.”

Chandler pressed his lips to Kurt and kissed him gently. 

Kurt wrapped his hand behind Chandler’s neck and slipped his fingers into the back of his hair, kissing him back passionately.

After a few minutes, Chandler slowed their kissing back down. “You and I are great together, kind to each other, and we’re good for each other. I told you last spring that I had known quite a few other gay guys and never dated them. I was just looking for someone who would ‘put out’, I could have found someone back then. I waited because I wanted to find someone that I really liked being with. And that someone is you.” Chandler kissed him. “I love you. And you love me. And I’m here.” He pressed his forehead to Kurt’s.

“You always know the right things to say.”

“They aren’t just words. I’m not just saying what I think you want to hear. You know that, right?” 

“I do.”

“No one is 100% all the time. It’s okay. People have problems. Do I wish I could make all of yours go away? Of course, I do because I love you. But realistically that won’t ever happen, but I can be here for you.” He kissed along Kurt’s neck and ear. He rubbed his own cheek against Kurt’s short beard. “Mmm.”

“Is that an indirect request to keep it?”

“It’s your face. You’re hot, beard or clean-shaven.”

“You could let yours grow over winter break.”

“I’ll think about it.” He kissed Kurt again. “Back to this afternoon and those texts. He’s just lashing out like an injured animal. Hopefully, he gets some help. He’s in a really tough situation. What he said was hurtful, but it’s irrelevant. That’s the part I want you to focus on. You are exactly the kind of person I want to be in a relationship with.” He slid his hand down to Kurt’s upper thigh and held him close. “You are MY man – my very sexy, gorgeous, kind, and caring man.”

“I feel the same way about you.” Kurt snuggled in as close as he could get. “I love you so much.”

Chandler kissed the top of his head. “Can I give you my opinion?”

“Of course.”

“I think you should go to the party tomorrow evening. I’ll go with you. You can tell them that you have more than one social commitment for tomorrow evening. We’ll stay for the first 30 minutes or so. You can come with me to Wilson’s house for a while. Then, your parents could pick you up for dinner. We’ve been here three days and you haven’t spent any time alone with them.”

“That’s actually a really good idea.”

“If he’s there, we’ll just ignore him.”

“Can we kiss until we fall asleep?”

Chandler kissed him.

* * *

The next morning, they ate a quick breakfast before Sebastian and Adrien had to go to Dalton for rehearsal before going to Lima for Sectionals.

Kurt dropped Chandler off at his house to spend the day with his family. He ate a lunch of leftovers with Finn before the two of them went up to McKinley to watch Sectionals. 

The Warblers performed “Uptown Girl” with Nick on lead, featuring Thad and Sebastian. Next came Jeff singing the lead on “Whistle”, which surprised Kurt because of the overt sexuality of the song, but the audience loved it. Their final piece was Sebastian killing “Live While We’re Young” with Trent singing the featured part. 

The Rosedale Mennonites performed next. With no dancing, Kurt knew they had no chance of winning, but their vocals were really good.

Last up were the New Directions. The girls wouldn’t tell Kurt what they were performing and neither would Finn. Kurt saw Mr. Schuester slip in right before the group was going to perform.

They opened with an amazing version of “Some Nights” that featured everyone several times. Next, was “Gangnam Style” with Tina singing the lead, featuring two students dancing whose names he didn’t know. They finished with handheld confetti cannons, which seemed like a Coach Sue type move.

It was a hard decision. He thought the judges might mark down for the sexuality of “Whistle”, but they also might not care for the over-the-top confetti cannons. There was a brief intermission while the judges met to make their decision. 

Quinn and Rachel turned to him when the lights came up. They all had the same thoughts and couldn’t decide which group they thought would win.

When Finn got up to go to the bathroom, the topic changed quickly to Janine.

Quinn said, “I like her. She’s nice and kind. She’s not manipulative like the two of us were.”

Rachel looked ashamed. “She’s right. We were both pretty awful to him. I’m glad he’s found someone who treats him well and won’t push him to be something he’s not like I was. He’s happy here and there’s nothing wrong with that. The three of us wanted to get away from here for various reasons, but there’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting to live in a small town near your family.”

“You’re right,” Kurt said. “And honestly, the more decent people who stay here, the better.”

Quinn pulled Kurt in close enough that she could whisper in his ear. “My mom sold the house and got a job in Connecticut. She’s moving as soon as winter break starts. She’s not moving to New Haven, so it won’t be like she’s living across the street, but she will be about a half-hour away from where I live.”

“That will be a big change.”

“It will be.” 

The lights dimmed and the three groups assembled on the stage. 

The announcer stepped out. “The 2012 Northwestern Ohio Sectionals champions are The New Directions and the Dalton Academy Warblers – a tie for the second time in three years. Congratulations to both teams!”

The four of them jumped up and started clapping.

Kurt turned and hugged Finn. “You did it. They’re moving on to Regionals.”

“Thanks. I was worried that I wouldn’t be good enough with Mr. Schue gone. I got new members and I didn’t even have to blackmail anyone.”

“What?”

“Never mind. I’m going to go meet up with the group in the choir room. I’ll see you at home. I’m riding back with Janine. She’ll be here in 10 minutes. Chandler’s with her. You can take him home with you. We’ll be there soon.”

“Sure.” Kurt made his way to the stage quickly to catch the Warblers before they left. When he got there, he pulled Sebastian into a hug, and then Adrien. “Congratulations!”

“What about my hug, Kurt?” Jeff asked as he practically squished the air out of him when he grabbed him.

“Oof,” Kurt said in surprise. “Congratulations to you too, Jeff. Although I’m surprised the judges didn’t just toss you out for your song choice.”

Jeff laughed. “Maybe they just don’t know what it means.”

“Could be. Anyway, you all were great. Your dancing has improved dramatically since last year. The round-off back tucks were impressive.”

Nick said, “Sebastian kicked our butts with the program he came up with to help us get through the issues we faced earlier in the semester.” He raised his eyebrow.

“Right.”

Trent approached him. Kurt saw that he wanted a hug too, but was too hesitant to ask. Kurt hugged him and spoke quietly. “It’s all because of you that they all got help and it didn’t end with disastrous results.”

Trent stepped back, nodded, and smiled shyly. “Sebastian reinstated the Warbler Council. Thad, Nick, and I are the council members. We’d like to induct you into the Warblers properly. It’s not a really long ceremony. And although it’s traditionally done at Dalton, we checked carefully and there are no bylaws that prevent us from doing it somewhere else. We checked for a good place around here and we’ve found one.”

“Why induct me now?”

“Wes took those of us of those of us who were Warblers when you came aside this morning before we rehearsed. He apologized for his lack of appropriate leadership and bad example in his treatment of you when you joined. He discussed the fact that not inducting you properly didn’t give you the sense of brotherhood that you should have had by being part of our group. When Sebastian brought up disbanding the council in favor of a single captain, he was never formally inducted. We mentioned it and he said that it was old-fashioned and not necessary. The school replaced Sebastian with Hunter as the captain. There was no ceremony this fall. It won’t just be you being inducted. Wes will induct you because he was the leader of the council when you joined and I will induct the new members since I’m the current council leader.”

Kurt nodded.

“Wes has gone ahead with David to set it up. I just need to let him know that you’ve agreed to come,” Trent said. “Please. Just so you know, Blaine is spending time with his father today until he has to fly out. He’s coming to Lima after that.”

Although Kurt didn’t hold anything against Wes or the Warblers, Kurt agreed because Wes seemed to be truly remorseful and he thought letting him do the ceremony would assuage his guilt, plus Trent was so sincere and kind, he was hard to say no to. “Okay.” 

“Excellent.” Trent gave Kurt the location before he excused himself to text Wes.

Kurt texted Chandler to go ahead to the house without him once Finn came out. Kurt had left one complete Dalton uniform hanging in a garment bag with a few costumes that he hadn’t gotten rid of but hadn’t taken to New York. He drove home to quickly change into it and meet the group.

* * *

Wes, David, and a couple of other older Warblers had changed into their uniforms as well. Wes handed out a single sheet of music with the written part of the ceremony on the back. 

Before the formalities began, Wes spoke from the heart. “I spoke my father at length about the Warblers during his time at Dalton. The Warblers were, at one time, the most respected club at Dalton. Getting chosen to be in the group was an honor. The members of the group formed a tight brotherhood. They helped each other succeed at Dalton and afterwards in their chosen fields. Being part of the group made decades of older, seasoned and successful Warblers available to younger members to help them in their college choices and their careers. They used to come in during in-service days to hold all-day workshops on different topics. I remember a few during my freshman year. Somehow the Warbler Council let that tradition slip my sophomore year. And when David and I joined the council and the new school year started, no one ever thought about it. I will be getting into contact with the older Warblers and we will resume mentoring the younger members.”

Trent spoke next. “When I joined the group, I was aware these things because my father was a Warbler, but to my knowledge none of the other four of us that were inducted that year had a relative that had been a Warbler. In retrospect, we were all young and repeated the words that we were asked to say, but I don’t think the other four really knew about the nature of the group being like a fraternity.”

Jeff, Nick, Thad, and Beatz shook their heads. Sebastian and some others did as well.

Trent continued. “If we had kept with the tradition of having the older Warblers still working with the group, when Sebastian brought up the motion to disband the Warbler Council, one of them would have told us that a 3-person council cannot be removed as the leadership. That misstep falls on Thad, Nick, and me. We should have examined all of the Warbler by-laws carefully before moving forward with a motion like that. While it was Sebastian’s idea, he will be considered at fault for the inappropriate leadership because it fell to us to follow the by-laws.”

Sebastian sighed. “May I speak?”

Trent nodded.

“I want to apologize. To me, the Warblers were nothing more than a show choir. Something to do for fun. A way to entertain myself in boring rural Ohio. I found the triumvirate leadership pompous, to be honest. My father did attend Dalton, but I did not grow up here, so I didn’t hear any stories of the amazing brotherhood of Warblers. I know I’ve apologized to those involved, but never to the group as a whole. I am sorry about my antics last winter. American movies that involve pranking rival high school groups and what I had heard about what Vocal Adrenaline did to the New Directions clouded my judgment. It was all supposed to be fun and games. It didn’t turn out that way. My lack of understanding of the group’s importance notwithstanding, my actions sullied the reputation of longstanding, highly-regarded group. I am willing to step aside and allow someone else to fill the position of lead singer.”

Wes asked, “Are you willing to participate whole-heartedly in this ceremony and let go of the notion that this is just a silly high school group, which I actually suspect that most show choirs are. I don’t think your assessment of show choirs as a whole is wrong. It was just completely wrong in regards to this group.”

“I do want to remain part of the group. I understand and acknowledge my mistakes and won’t repeat them.”

Wes nodded. “You can stay. Before we start the ceremony itself, we want to give anyone who is here the opportunity to return to the bus without participating. That was always an option in the past. If you’re not interested in being a part of a group that supports each other both now and in the future, if you’re not interested in being a part of what is basically a secret society like a fraternity and the loyalty and duty that comes along with joining such a group, then now is the time to head back to the bus. The ceremony isn’t long. Anyone?”

No one moved.

The ceremony itself was brief and reminded Kurt of being inducted into the National Honor Society and the French Honor Society. Each of the newly inducted members was given a gold Warbler lapel pin, similar in size to the pins he had gotten at the other ceremonies.

As a closing they sang together.

 _As our voices intertwine in the air,_ _  
_ _So shall our bond be unbreakable._ _  
_ _A brotherhood of harmony, respect, trust, and honor._ _  
_ _Once a Warbler, always a Warbler,_ _  
_ _In heart, soul, and mind._ _  
_ _Through both successes and times to rebuild,_  
_Our bond through music, loyalty, and fraternity_  
_Will keep us strong, both now and forever._

Wes took Kurt aside as everyone else boarded the bus. “Blaine will be given the opportunity to apologize to you for violating the oath he took. His disciplinary procedure will follow the by-laws.”

“And if he refuses?”

“He may end up being removed from the group.” Wes shook Kurt’s hand. “Maybe I’ll see you around in New York sometime.” He headed towards his car where David was waiting for him.


	29. Chapter 29

Kurt looked himself over in the bathroom mirror. He used a little concealer under his eyes to give himself a more refreshed and awake look. It had been a long couple of days and he hadn't slept all that well. Chandler came in and looked him up and down.

He wolf whistled. "Who has the hottest boyfriend?" he asked proudly. "Why that would be me," he gloated in response to his own question. He stepped closer and ran his hand down Kurt's arm. "You look amazing."

"Thanks. I like your outfit too. Are you ready?"

"I am."

Kurt washed his fingertips off and dried his hands. "Me too." He turned and kissed Chandler.

* * *

Kurt took Chandler's hand as they walked down the sidewalk towards Rachel's house. They parked down a ways to make sure they didn't get pinned in.

"Remember. Do not drink anything that you didn't open and haven't watched the whole time you've had it."

"You make it sound like someone is going to roofie me."

"No, but I wouldn't put it past some of them to put Everclear in your Sprite in an attempt to loosen your tongue so they can ask you questions that are far too personal."

"Such as?"

"Asking you questions about my anatomy."

"Got it. We're only staying a half-hour, I won't need a drink at all."

"Good choice," he agreed as rang the doorbell.

Tina answered the door. "Come on in. You know where to go."

Kurt was surprised that so many people had already arrived and he was even more surprised to see no alcohol. He figured that Rachel's dads must be upstairs somewhere or Puck was doing a good job of keeping it hidden.

Mercedes greeted them when they got to the bottom of the stairs. She pulled Kurt into a hug. "Hey, White Boy. Long time, no see." She turned to Chandler. "Good to see you, Chandler." She let Kurt go. "You two look good."

"So do you 'Cedes. I love that outfit."

"Thanks. Like I told you when we were shopping yesterday, there are a lot of nicer full-figured shops out in LA."

Unique walked up to the group. "Which is why I need to win the lottery and take a vacation shopping trip to LA. My only decent options are online and that is _such_ a hassle."

"Oh, you know that I know _all_ about _that_ ," Kurt said commiserating. "But in New York, it's a lot better."

"That'll be my second vacation destination _after_ I win the lottery. Then I'm going somewhere _amazing_ like Paris."

"I want to go there too someday," Kurt said. "I'd love to be part of Paris Fashion Week."

"Oh, honey. Take me with you."

Kurt laughed. "We'll see. That's years down the road, if ever."

"Come on. Let me introduce you to the new guys." She wrapped her arm through Kurt's.

Chandler followed along on his other side, taking Kurt's hand. After she introduced everyone, she insisted that Chandler and Kurt sing for them. Chandler picked up the guitar that was by the stage, put the strap over his head, and tuned it slightly. He began to play the intro as Kurt adjusted the mic. They performed their go-to duet of "Count on Me".

When they finished, Tina grabbed Kurt before he managed to step off the stage. "Sing with me, please. Three years in Glee and we never sang a duet. I might never get another chance."

"Okay. What song?"

"'What is this Feeling?'," she suggested.

"Sure. Glinda or Elphaba?"

"I'm Elphaba." She found the song on Rachel's karaoke machine and started it.

As soon as it started, Rachel turned towards the stage. She and Quinn joined in singing the background vocals from where they were standing. When they finished singing, Tina hugged Kurt.

"That was so much fun."

"It was."

Rachel approached Kurt as he stepped down off the stage. "That's what we should have sung. Why did I never think of that? We could have sung that as a duet at any competition."

"You didn't think of it because I'm not Finn or your idea of a male lead. You made that clear from the very beginning when you insisted the Mr. Schue find someone besides me or Artie to sing with you."

"You're right. I was near-sighted and ridiculous. Artie is a better singer than Finn. Don't tell Finn I said that, but it's true. I was–" She shook her head. "At least I'm getting better and realizing how awful I was. You know I'm sorry, right?"

"I know." He pulled her into a hug. "I try to remember that we were young and you were spoiled. Seriously. Look at this room. No one else in this group has anything that comes close to this."

"I'm realizing that now. My dads' constant affirmation of my talent went overboard and made me think I was better than everyone because they said I was. And I needed to believe it to survive the slushies and name-calling. I'm beginning to see my talent within a school of talented people. I'm having to learn my strengths and weaknesses, which I hate of course."

"But you're so much nicer and you're fun to be around now."

"I agree," Quinn said as she joined them. "I wasn't much better, but we're all growing up."

They stood around listening more than talking as a few other people took the stage and sang.

When Artie finished, Santana approached them. "Come do 'How Will I know'. The four of us killed that and no one heard it."

Rachel and Kurt followed her up to the stage and Mercedes joined them.

About the time everyone had finally arrived, Kurt's phone buzzed in his pocket alerting him to the fact that the 30 minutes was up. He squeezed Chandler's hand, who looked towards him and smiled. Kurt wrapped up what they were talking about and said, "We hate to have to run out, but we have another social engagement to attend this evening."

"Where are you going?" Brittany asked. "You haven't been here very long."

Chandler answered. "A bunch of my friends are getting together as well. We're going to stop over there for a while."

"Why don't you just stay here with us and sing some more?" Tina asked. "You don't even know any of them."

Kurt sighed. "That's not true. I went out with Chandler and his friends last spring for a couple of months. I won't be there long either. My dad and Carole are picking me up there and we're going out to dinner. We've been here since Wednesday and I haven't spent any time with them just the three of us. Give us a call when you come visit Mike. I'll take you to my favorite vintage clothing places."

She hugged him quickly. "Sounds good. I will."

They didn't stop to say goodbye to everyone because they knew it would take too long to get out if they did. Unfortunately, they met Blaine on his way down on their way up. They both moved to one side of the stairs and let him walk past. Kurt could smell the alcohol on his breath as he stopped on the same step Kurt was standing on.

"So much for leaving the Warblers to me. Don't move. I'll be right back." He went down and brought Rachel back up. "With Rachel as my neutral witness, I hereby apologize for not properly teaching you how to be a Warbler." He half bowed.

He said it with such insincerity that Kurt rolled his eyes. "That's it?"

"That's it," he said with finality. "Wes said to apologize or face expulsion. I apologized. I'll have Rachel confirm that she heard me." He put his hand on Rachel's back and guided her down the stairs. "Let's go party."

"Let's just go," Kurt said and followed Chandler up the stairs and out to his car. He texted Mike on the way and told him that Blaine had been drinking at some point, and to keep him from driving. He got a response, so he felt relieved of any continued obligation. He might not like Blaine anymore, but he didn't want him dead or someone else to get hurt because of his recklessness.

* * *

Kurt passed his controller to Martin on his left when his phone buzzed with the text letting him know that his parents had pulled up. Chandler saw him stand up and followed him upstairs to the front door. Kurt grabbed his coat off the back of the sofa as he walked past. He stopped and gave Chandler a quick kiss before he headed outside. He hopped in the backseat of Carole's car and they pulled off.

"Hey, bud. We were thinking of the Greek place."

"Sounds good to me."

"Your evening go okay?"

"Mostly. I don't want to talk about the part that didn't. We sang and talked for a bit at Rachel's and played video games here." He changed the subject abruptly. "How's the shop doing with you gone most of the time?"

"Cassius has really stepped up. He's doing a great job of running the place."

"That's good."

Burt talked about the shop for a bit before changing the subject. "Tell us about school and New York. We met some of your friends when we came, but we didn't spend a lot of time talking since we were being tourists too."

Kurt began by talking about school.

* * *

After they placed their orders, Kurt brought up a topic he didn't want to, but he felt he had no choice but to share. "So, I found out something today that I don't want to tell you."

Burt looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Go on, honey. Tell us."

"You probably don't know, but when Mr. Schuester first took over the Glee Club, only five people auditioned. We needed 12 to compete. Rachel declared herself the female lead didn't find me or Artie acceptable as the male lead. So, Mr. Schue went searching for an appropriate male lead. I just never knew the whole story until today." He paused.

"Go on," Burt said.

"He had gone in the locker room for who knows what reason and he heard Finn singing in the shower after football practice. I don't know why he was by himself, but he was. Anyway, Mr. Schue wanted him to join Glee and he did, but he got hassled so badly by the football players, he was going to quit."

"But…" Carole said.

"But Mr. Schue blackmailed him into staying. He got some pot from somewhere and put it in a bag. He showed it to Finn and told him that he had found it in his locker during a random locker search. Finn insisted that it wasn't his."

Burt's eyes narrowed.

"Mr. Schue told him that he'd lose his football scholarship if anyone found out about the pot, but that he'd make it go away if Finn stayed in Glee Club."

"No way," Carole said.

"That bast–, moron," Burt quickly corrected. "How dare he do that to a 16-year-old."

Kurt corrected him. "Finn was still 15 at the time."

"Even worse." He huffed and sighed. "I'll deal with that. Schue will resign. I'm disgusted that he worked on my campaign. That won't happen again either."

"What about the New Directions? They're moving on to Regionals. Football is over and I think only one of the guys played anyway, so they should just be able to rehearse after school now with Finn directing them. He's done a good job with them. I don't want them to be disbanded because of Mr. Schue. Then again, Coach Sue hates Mr. Schue. Maybe she won't get rid of the club if she can get rid of him. That may be your bargaining chip in a way. I bet you can keep her from disbanding the group, if you go in and offer her a deal. Tell her that you can guarantee her Shue's resignation if she promises not disband the group for as long as the group has a sponsor – either a teacher or a college student willing to do it for free."

"I'll do what I can. Those kids deserve to get to compete."

* * *

Chandler turned the doorknob quietly, figuring that Kurt had already gone to bed, but when he opened the door, he saw that Kurt was propped up in bed reading a textbook.

He looked up. "Hey, honey. Did you have a good time?"

"I did. How about you?"

"We did a lot of talking, which was good I guess. The gyros were great. I brought you some home. If you're hungry, you can go down and warm them up. I'll come with you."

"I want to shower and put my clothes into wash. Someone dumped beer on my jeans."

"Ooh, ick. That will smell nasty. Want some company in the shower?"

"It looks like you already showered."

"It wouldn't be the first time I showered twice in the same day. Besides, my first shower was very, very lonely," he was melodramatically downcast.

Chandler smiled at his antics. "How about you run down and put my jeans in the washer and then join me? That way we can put them in the dryer when we go down to eat what you brought home."

"Okay." He got up and kissed Chandler before he had a chance to get undressed. Kurt grabbed a small pile of clothes off the floor of the closet and waited for Chandler to hand him what he had on. "I'll wash the jeans by themselves first. We can add the other stuff when we go down. We might as well wash everything that can be dried here for free before we go back."

"That's true."

"I'll fold everything up and pack while you're gone in the morning." He waited for Chandler to step into the bathroom before he opened the bedroom door to go downstairs. He came back up as quickly as he could and stripped down and got into the shower with Chandler. "You are so hot." He kissed Chandler.

"I think you, Mr. Hummel, have ulterior motives for joining me that don't include helping me get clean."

"Could be. Is that a problem?"

"Oh, definitely not." He pulled Kurt closer and kissed him.

* * *

"These are really good," Chandler said.

"You're awfully hungry. Didn't the guys order pizza or something?"

"They did, I only ate one piece to tide me over because I knew you'd bring me something I'd love."

Kurt smiled. "Eight months and you know me so well." He got up from leaning on the counter across from Chandler to move the clothes to the dryer.

Chandler looked over at the stove, which said 12:03 on the clock. "You're right. Eight months."

"So, tomorrow morning, you're having breakfast with your parents and Marlene and Zach…" He selected the right options and pressed the start button on the dryer.

"Yeah, but they really want you to come. Please, reconsider. I spent time with them by myself earlier today while you were at Sectionals. I'd like you to come too. I don't have anything secret I need to talk about without you there. I don't actually have any secrets that you don't know."

Kurt came out of the laundry room. "I will if you want me to." He walked around the counter and wrapped his arms around Chandler and kissed him under his ear.

Chandler reached behind him and grabbed Kurt's upper thighs and pulled him even closer. "I really do." He let go. "Sit with me?"

Kurt sat down on the barstool to his right and took his hand and began to draw patterns on his palm, causing Chandler to shiver a little, but Kurt knew that he loved it, so continued to do it while Chandler finished eating. When he finished Kurt took his dishes, put them in the dishwasher, and started it.

Kurt held his hand out to Chandler, who smiled and took it. Anticipating Kurt's next move, he twirled himself into Kurt's chest, which accidentally made Kurt fumble with his phone when he was trying to start the music. They both laughed and Kurt finally got the playlist started. Chandler twirled himself back out and stepped closer into the comfortable dance hold they had grown accustomed to and let himself be led around the open area in the kitchen.

* * *

"Are your parents upset that you've spent the night here the whole time we've been home?"

"You must have been doing something else in the apartment when they talked about how they repainted both bedrooms, got rid of our old twin beds and put a queen-sized bed in what used to be my room. They had been using Marlene's room as an office, which you knew. They moved mom's treadmill from their room into Marlene's old room, which gives them more free space in their room. And they moved my desk in there because it was bigger and they gave Marlene's desk to Janine, who brought it here and put it in that small room your parents had made for Finn to use to study in. I'm pretty sure that Janine spends at least half of her time and nights at Finn's. I'm figuring that by Christmas, they'll officially move in together."

"Oh, wow. Janine tells you more than Finn tells me."

"Janine tells me too much."

Kurt laughed.

"Don't worry. I do _not_ overshare the way she does."

"I wasn't worried. I trust you." Kurt snuggled in tighter. "We could get some toys if you're bored," Kurt said barely loud enough to be heard.

"What makes you think I'm bored? Have I given you the impression that I'm bored?"

"No, but I just wanted to offer."

"This is because of what I just said about Janine's oversharing."

"There's not really anything for you _to_ overshare."

"That's not true and you know it. What's brought this on?"

"I think maybe just being in Lima brings back feelings of insecurity and not being enough."

"Well, then we need to stay away from here. You haven't felt like that in quite a while, unless you've just been hiding it from me."

"No hiding. We promised each other to be honest and open. That's why I'm offering. I don't want you to ever feel like you have to go to someone else to give you what you need."

"Sex, you mean."

"Mostly, yes. I mean I know you wouldn't because I trust you, but I don't want you to feel like you're missing out on something."

"If we ever decide to get some toys, I want it to be because we've decided we want to try something together. It won't be because I'm bored. You could never be boring." He kissed Kurt. "I don't think you even know how to be boring." He kissed down his neck, licking him in a way he knew would make Kurt start laughing. And then moved and straddled Kurt and punctuated what he was saying with kisses and licks and barely-there nips down Kurt's ribs. "I." _Kiss._ "Love." _Lick._ "You." _Nibble kisses_.

Kurt was thrashing around laughing, yet trying to keep quiet since it was so late. "You… have… to… stop."

Chandler stopped immediately.

"We're going to wake my parents up."

"Right." He slid up and slipped his hands under Kurt's shoulders and put his weight on his forearms and began to kiss Kurt's neck instead, which led to faint moaning rather the much louder laughing.

Kurt asked, "Are we going to try to sleep?"

"Not unless you really want me to stop." He let his knees slide back a bit and lay down on Kurt.

"We'll need another shower." Kurt ran his hands down Chandler's back.

Chandler shrugged and kept kissing his neck.

Kurt slipped his hands even lower. "I guess it is technically Sunday, so it won't be three in one day."

* * *

They made it out of bed in time to say their goodbyes to Burt and Carole before Finn and Puck drove them to airport in Columbus. Puck or Janine had gone with him ever since Finn had nearly had a wreck on the way back from Columbus one morning. Now, he and whoever went with him would hit up one of the Go-Kart places to race a few times, maybe see an early movie at a dollar theater, and find an old dive or diner and eat before they came back.

They packed quickly and got ready. When they got to Chandler's house, they could see that they weren't the first to arrive. They went in, but the coat hooks were full, so they took their coats down to the guest room. Kurt looked in both rooms. It hit him at that point that Chandler's parents really didn't expect him to ever move back home. They had moved on into the empty nest stage of their lives already. He realized then, that his parents had in a way as well, even though Finn was living in the renovated upstairs apartment. He wasn't living with them anymore.

Chandler caught him staring off into space. He reached out and touched Kurt's upper arm and squeezed gently. "What's up?"

"Oh, it just hit me that our parents aren't expecting us to move back in with them. Seeing how your parents have turned these two rooms into a guest room and an office just made it all real all of a sudden."

"I hadn't thought about it that way, but you're right. They know that I won't be moving back to Lima. Even if we don't make it big and we decide to move somewhere else after college, it won't be back here. We don't even have a community theatre option here anymore." Chandler could sense the insecurity trying to drag Kurt under again. He kissed him gently. "And yes, I said 'we'. I don't plan on doing anything to make you want to leave me." He sang quietly in Kurt's ear.

_I can't help myself._  
_I want you and nobody else._

Kurt chuckled. "Point taken. I'm not doubtful of your love for me. I'm really not."

"I know." He pecked him on the lips once more. "Let's go eat before my grandma comes looking for us."

X-X-X-X-X

After a huge meal of nearly every type of breakfast food, they broke out the cards and played Euchre, Hearts, and Uno for a while. Before they left for the airport, Chandler showed off several new card tricks he had learned.

"I know what I forgot to tell anyone," Chandler said after he put the cards in his jacket pocket.

"What's that?" his grandma asked.

"I've started doing birthday parties in New York. It actually pays really well. After I did the show at the _Vogue_ Halloween party, I started getting calls. I've done three so far. I've got two more and I think three Christmas parties scheduled between now and Christmas."

"That's great," Sharon said. "I know that working at the corner store doesn't give you a lot of extra money.

"The other thing we haven't talked about is that Sebastian and Adrien invited us to go to Paris this summer. We have no idea how to make it work, but Kurt and I would both love to go. There are a lot of ducks to get in a row to make it work. And my biggest priority is Queenie, so we'll just have to see."

Kurt nodded. "He's right. Neither one of us can afford to lose our jobs, but it's also an amazing opportunity. We can stay with them, so we wouldn't have the usual massive expense of staying in a hotel."

James nodded. "That's true. A month of hotels would probably be more than the airfare."

"We haven't even looked into it that far," Chandler said. "They just invited us Friday evening."

"Well, I think it sounds like an amazing opportunity like Kurt said," Marlene added. "We better get going though. I hate having to sit around in the airport for so long, but there's nothing to be done about that."

After at least a dozen hugs, they grabbed their coats. Kurt, Chandler, and Marlene squished together in the backseat. Zach rode up front with Janine. Kurt offered up a Disney sing-a-long CD and they laughed and sang on the drive to Toledo.

* * *

They got home not quite an hour before dark. They thanked Adam and invited him out to the taquería with them as a thank you. He accepted. Chandler put Queenie's harness on quickly and they left together. She led them to the taco shop, impressing Adam.

"She's something," he smiled. "After a couple of days, she decided that I was an acceptable cat scritcher and she chose to lay beside me while I read or watched a show."

They got in line.

Adam started looking through the menu. "Any recommendations?"

"We've liked everything we've ordered here. We could just order a combination of everything and cut them up back at the apartment and you could try them all."

"That works for me."

When they got up to the ordering window, Queenie was greeted again.

"I see you've brought me a new customer, Miss Queenie. I might have to throw a prize for you for that." The shop owner praised her. "You're a good cat."

Chandler picked her up so that she could see who was speaking to her.

"You are the most beautiful cat, but you know that, don't you?" he cooed. He took their order. "You check in that bag carefully, Queenie. Don't let these boys eat your treat."

Chandler chuckled and the three of them moved to the pick up window to wait. Kurt grabbed the bag and they headed back to the apartment. Once they got there, Kurt cut all 12 of the tacos into three even triangle-ish shapes and plated them in a circle around the Southwest rice he put in the center of each plate. He found a piece of fish wrapped up separately for Queenie. He put it in one of her bowls. Adam had gotten so accustomed to being there, he poured drinks for the three of them and grabbed one of the desk chairs and they sat down together.

Kurt told Adam what type each taco was as he tried them all. Adam got a kick out of watching Queenie eat her fish so daintily.

They talked about their upcoming finals and the NYADA and NYU winter concerts.

When they finished eating, Adam said, "Well, I'm won over. I liked every single option. Absolutely delicious. Queenie has good taste in restaurants." He looked down and smiled at her. "I'm going to grab my stuff and get going. Thank you for letting me stay here during the break. You saved me having to couch surf or spend money I'd rather not on a room somewhere."

"We're glad you were able to do it," Chandler said.

"We're potentially looking at taking a month and going to visit friends of ours in France when school gets out. We'd need someone to either stay with Queenie then, or we'll have to figure out how to take her."

"I'm not sure what I'll be doing then, but once you get some idea of your plan, let me know. The dorms aren't open in the summer since there are only a few classes offered over the summer. Plus I'm graduating anyway, so I wouldn't be able to stay even if they were open."

Chandler picked up Queenie's bowl and started clearing the table off. Adam grabbed his bag, his backpack, and his coat. He grabbed a few things in ziptop bags from the fridge and put them in his backpack. Kurt saw him out, thanking him once again.

He shut the door and leaned back against it. He took a deep breath and sighed. Chandler saw the look of resignation on Kurt's face. He stopped what he was doing and offered Kurt a hug. He stepped forward and wrapped Chandler tight in his arms. They stood holding each other for a couple of minutes.

Kurt broke the silence. "I'm finally getting the feeling in 'Not the Boy Next Door'. It's an upbeat song with a log of self-affirmation in it, but the underlying feeling now for me is a bit of melancholy. I knew Lima was never going to be my home as an adult, but, after the past few days, I realize just how much my home is here in New York with you. We were together in Lima, but there were just too many memories of the past there. Maybe in the future I will fell less stressed there, but it's making me not look forward to going back in three and a half weeks."

Chandler grabbed his desk chair as he walked past and put back up to his desk and sat down on the sofa. "Mom, Dad, Marlene, Zach, and I did our gift exchange on Saturday while you were at Sectionals, like we had planned, so we could see if your parents want to fly here for the last couple of days that Finn and Janine had planned to be here."

"That would save us from having to keep trying to find someone to stay with Queenie or booking another ticket to take her with us since Adam's family surprised him with a ticket to fly home for all of winter break."

"I don't want to make you miss out on doing things with your extended family though."

Chandler countered, "One other option would be to stay in Dayton with my grandma instead of staying at your parents' in Lima. That would prevent you from running into all of your ghosts of insecurity and self-doubt."

"Another option would be for us to invite my parents here while Finn and Janine will be here, like you said, but then you go ahead back to Lima and enjoy the holidays with both sets of grandparents and your extended family and I stay here with Queenie. That would prevent us from needing a cat-sitter too."

"I would miss spending the holidays with you that way."

"I know. We just haven't come up with a way that includes everyone spending the holidays with family and us spending them together all while making sure that Queenie is cared for."

"We'll have to work on it. Let's get unpacked and shower. We can watch a movie and snuggle when we get out."

* * *

"Are you going to be done soon?" Chandler asked. He got up and plastered himself to Kurt's back and wrapped his arms under Kurt's and leaned on him.

"I'm sorry, honey. I just need to turn my brain back on to New York mode. We have two weeks before finals. We have the Winter Concert at NYADA and at NYU. Rachel got a golden ticket to sing at the Winter Showcase. She wants me to go watch her. You have those birthday and Christmas parties to do, one of which is the same night as the Showcase. I traded to get days off when Finn and Janine will be here the week after finals. I just need to absorb the information. Five more minutes?"

"Of course." He stood up a bit.

Kurt turned and looked up and offered him a kiss, which he immediately leaned into. "Why don't you go look in the very back of the freezer and pull out the last two pieces of cheesecake that I froze? If you get them out now, they should be ready to eat by the time the movie ends."

"That's a tasty idea."

Kurt took a deep breath and looked at their calendar again. When Chandler sat back down, Kurt asked, "Did Marlene go home every winter break?"

"Yeah, but she didn't go to school out of state and she lived in a dorm during the year, so she couldn't stay on campus during breaks. So this year is her first year living out of state and she and Zach are not going to Ohio for Christmas. That's why we did our gift exchange yesterday."

"Won't your parents be really upset if you don't go back?"

"I'm not sure anything besides me getting hurt or something tragic happening would really upset my parents. They're both pretty down-to-earth, 'life happens' kind of people. You saw the house. They seem to be dealing with the 'our kids are adults' issue pretty well. We have the big family reunion in July and then there aren't quite as many people who come to Thanksgiving. But Christmas is a lot smaller. None of us is overly religious, but everyone has friends and the 'other' sides of their families as well. Not everyone comes every year and some people never come. I really think it's your parents who might be more upset."

"Carole's family is all centered around the Zanesville area. She quit going to Thanksgiving with them to stay with us. Maybe it could just be the same as what your family does – visit one side for Thanksgiving and the other for Christmas. Or maybe they can come here the week before when Finn and Janine will be here. That's what I'm leaning towards."

"Come on. Relax for a while. We've been waiting to watch _Brave_ since before we even moved here to avoid spending $20 to see it in the theater. We'll talk to them tomorrow."

"You're right. I'm sorry." Kurt turned off the lamp on his desk and climbed up on to the bed that Chandler had pulled out and made when he had first been looking at the calendar. Adam had been nice enough to wash the bedding at some point during the day.

Chandler moved to meet Kurt and kissed him. "I'm not angry. I just know that fretting at your desk won't change anything. And I know you know it too. I know you want what we do to make everyone happy, but I'm just not sure that's possible and that's okay. You're my top priority now. I want what we decide to make you happy. How do you want to do this?"

Kurt answered, "How about you sit between my legs and recline back onto my chest."

They got comfortable and Chandler pressed play to start _Brave_.

"You're right." He kissed the back of Chandler's head. "I spend too much time trying to make everyone happy. And while we are still a part of our individual families, we're making a new family for ourselves here." Kurt pulled the comforter up over Chandler's shoulders and then his own. He slipped his arms around Chandler and wiggled his hands under the edge of his shirt and began to run his fingers gently along his abdomen and chest.

"Mmm. You know I love that."

"I do. I love you." Kurt kissed along his neck.

"I love you too."

Once the previews ended, Kurt stopped distracting Chandler and snuggled in tight to watch the movie.


	30. Chapter 30

Friday afternoon, Kurt went to answer the door when their guests arrived. Brian and Carlen hung their coats on the back of the door as soon as they came in. Brian took their backpacks into the living room. Carlen put the subs they had brought with them on the counter. Kurt had a bread knife and cutting board out already. Carlen washed his hands and cut the subs into sections. Kurt had already put out a couple of bags of chips and pitchers of tea and lemonade. He had a container of homemade cookies for later.

Everyone took what they wanted and they sat at the table and ate together. Kurt already had music playing in the background because he knew it helped Brian be able to deal with the sounds people made while they ate.

Brian said, "I know a lot of people didn't like the second one much, but the third one is really good. I know none of you have seen it, so I won't give anything away. I'm really excited to see it again."

Kurt said, "I wanted to see it in the theaters last May, but things were just super busy. We had Nationals, and then finals, and then graduation. Chandler, Janine, and I went to DC for a week after that. And by the time we got back, it wasn't in theaters anymore, so I'm excited to see it too."

"And we made something fun to spice up watching the second one," Chandler said.

They talked about their classes and final projects while they ate. When they finished, Kurt got up and loaded their plates into the dishwasher. He left their glasses on the counter in case anyone wanted another drink at some point during the evening.

Brian came out of the bathroom in his pajamas. "I love these glasses with the handles and the colored silicone rings that fit on the handles." He grabbed his with the purple tag on it and filled it with water. "I'm definitely getting those when I move out of the dorms."

Kurt smiled because Brian had been the one to point out how people were still taking new cups all evening even after Kurt had put out a Sharpie for people to mark their Solo cups with. He had bought 12 glasses with handles online, along with the colored silicone rings. With as many Solo cups as they went through every time people came over, he figured they'd break even on the cost in less than six months.

Carlen came out of their room just a minute later. Once everyone got situated on the sofa in it's bed form, Kurt turned off the lights and Chandler pressed play and their _Men in Black_ marathon got underway.

As promised, during the second movie, they assembled ice cream sandwiches using the chocolate cookies Kurt and Chandler had made.

After the third movie, they all talked about it for a little while. Before he and Chandler headed to their room to sleep, Kurt set up the privacy screen.

* * *

Both Kurt and Chandler had to work the next morning. They got ready quietly and left Brian and Carlen sleeping. When they got up they studied until 11:00, which was when Rachel and Quinn arrived. The four of them prepared lunch for everyone. Kinzy and Lara arrived at noon. Kurt and Chandler arrived soon after.

They had made three different types of soups – traditional chili and two vegetarian soups, cream of potato with broccoli and mushrooms and a tomato-based vegetable soup.

When they finished eating, they packed up the leftovers to eat later with sandwiches. Kurt got out the Shrinky Dink sheets that he had gotten and a big set of colored pencils.

"I want us all to come up with cheerful, happy words to write on these. They need to fill the length of the sheets. You can fit two or three on each page. So, like 'love', 'happiness', 'joy', etc. But we only need one of each word, so we need to divide them up after we come up with as many as we can. Each one will need a hole punched through wherever the string to hang it needs to be. You can write the words across or down, however you want. Chandler and I are going to make some others."

"When were done with the words, we're going to use the leftover pieces to make stars with these cardboard stencils we made," Chandler added.

Kurt said, "I want each of you to write your name on the tree I'm going to make. We're going to make one each year that we have people over. I thought it would be a fun way to remember who we spend our holiday decorating day with."

"That's a cool idea, Kurt," Quinn said. "What's the key for?"

"I saw people press their keys into salt dough ornaments when they moved and different objects from things they had done throughout the year. I'm going to trace it on the sheet. I know it won't be true to size, but I'm going to write on it too. We're going to make some for things we've done together this year. Since neither of us is really religious but we love the idea of decorating and celebrating friendship and exchanging gifts, we really liked the idea of a memory tree."

Rachel said, "I think it's really cool. Being Jewish always made the idea of having a Christmas tree kind of weird, even though we always had one. I think this makes the idea a lot more festive rather than religious, not that Christmas trees had anything to do with a baby being born."

Chandler added, "All of the stars we make this year will be red. I think next year, we'll do silver and alternate them with these when we string them. And maybe choose another star shape so they look a little different too."

Brian asked, "So after these finish baking we're going to make the dough for all of the cookies you said we're going to make?"

"Yep," Chandler answered. "You can all take a bunch with you, packaged up to give out to people. We bought a pack of snowflake-decorated ziptop bags."

"It was something my mom and I used to do," Kurt added. "We'd bake a bunch of cookies at the beginning of December and we'd take them to the shop, the fire station, the library, and some other places. I always loved doing it. It's a tradition I want to restart. We don't really know that many people yet, but I'm going to take some to the shop with me, and Chandler's going to take some to work too."

"We'll leave some at Shelby's," Quinn said.

"I'm not sure who I'll give any to," Brian said.

Carlen said, "I know a bunch of people at NYADA who would love some. You can go with me and we can give them out together."

"I'd like that." Brian smiled and went back to cutting out his stars.

Kinzy teasingly asked, "What if we just want to eat all of ours?"

"Then, you give them to yourself as a gift," Kurt answered.

Lara rolled her eyes and smiled. "We'll give _some_ of them away."

* * *

They worked efficiently to get the trays of cookies in and out of the oven, refilled, washed when needed, and put out on racks to cool. Once they were all out and cooling, they moved to the living room to start to put the super narrow ribbon on the ornaments they had made. Kurt pulled one of the chairs to the middle of the room and put the small tree on it.

"I love this super skinny baby tree," Kinzy said. "It's really cute and it reminds me of what the top of the evergreen shrubs in our yard look like. They're not pine trees. I don't actually know what they are."

Kurt said, "It's supposed to be a baby white cedar tree and it's not half bad looking. We didn't want anything that Queenie would think would be a good scratching post or something to climb, so we picked this one out at Target. It's only two feet tall, but once it's sitting up on the dresser, it will tall enough. We're going to put a set of battery-operated lights on it. And the pot it's in is plastic. So, if she does get curious and get up there and knock it off, it won't break or end up with her getting caught in a cord hanging off of it."

"Now, I get the Shrinky Dink ornaments," Brian said. "They won't break if Queenie plays with them."

Kurt smiled. "Exactly. And no glitter or paint for her to lick."

"And ribbon instead of those wire ornament hangers," Brian added. "All very good ideas. She's too sweet to get hurt."

She had been rubbing herself around Kurt's ankles while they were talking about the tree. He leaned down and picked her up. "Did you hear that Queenie? Your fan club keeps expanding." He stroked her head and she mewled. "I'm going to put you down, beautiful." He sat her back down on the floor, but she kept rubbing herself on him demanding attention. He picked her back up. "Are you jealous of the tree because we're all looking at it? I can't have that now, can I?" She pushed her head up under his chin and rubbed her face on his shirt.

Chandler smiled. "She's got your number, doesn't she?" He pulled the lights out and Lara helped him get the batteries in and wrap them around the tree neatly.

Once the lights were on, it didn't take long to get all of the ornaments they had made hung on the tree. Kurt helped one-handed as he continued to carry Queenie around so she felt like part of what was going on instead of feeling jealous.

Chandler and Kurt had made one slightly larger star, colored the edges silver, and glued a tiny jump ring to it so it could be slipped over the top branch. Once it was on, Chandler slipped the last light through the jump ring as well, so it would light up the star up from behind, and then he moved the tree to the dresser. They had already moved the TV off-center to make room for it. He pressed the button on the lights and stepped back.

"It's cute," Kinzy said. "I like it. Your place isn't big and even a regular small tree would too big for the dresser. It's just the right size."

Chandler moved and stood next to Kurt and Queenie and wrapped his arm around Kurt's waist.

"I think it's time for singing," Kurt said.

Rachel clapped her hands and bounced up onto her toes. "Yay! This is my favorite part."

Quinn snarked back, but sweetly. "I would have _never_ guessed that, Rachel."

"Well, I've heard everyone here sing and I think we'll make a great octet," Kurt said.

"Oh, Kurt. That's an amazing idea!" Rachel said very enthusiastically. "We can practice six or eight songs and we could go caroling when we all come to your Christmas party later this month. I haven't been caroling in ages."

"Probably because your Jewish," Quinn teased.

Rachel rolled her eyes.

Quinn went on. "And you missed out on the caroling last Christmas to be in the TV show, but the year before that was bad and the year before."

"What happened?" Brian asked with a very concerned look on his face.

Rachel, Quinn, and Kurt recounted the events at McKinley.

"Every time the three of you talk about that school, I think there is no way that it was real, but you all swear it is," Brian said.

Kurt sighed. "And you haven't even heard 10% of it."

Quinn said, "There was the time Coach Sue was going to shoot Brittany out of a human canon."

"No. Just stop," Kinzy said. "There is no way that's true."

"It is," Kurt confirmed. "You can look it up. McKinley had been the reigning national champions for six years and lost Regionals that year – 2011. It was because Quinn, Brittany, and Santana quit the day of the competition in protest over the human canon."

Quinn said, "They won again senior year, last year."

"They? You quit your senior year?" Lara asked.

"I was in a car wreck. I was in wheelchair at the time."

"Oh. That's terrible."

"It was." Quinn changed the subject. "So, what song first?"

Chandler moved quickly to grab his guitar. He sat down on the edge of the sofa and tuned it. "How about… 'Rudolph'? In unison if need be. Just to warm up." He started to play an intro and started to sing.

_You know Dasher and Dancer,  
And Prancer and Vixen,  
Comet and Cupid,  
And Donner and Blitzen,  
But do you recall,  
The most famous reindeer of all?_

* * *

They divided the cookies into bags and put them into boxes to take with them. After they finished, they warmed up the soup. Kurt and Chandler made grilled cheese sandwiches for everyone.

"I'm glad all of you could come. This has been fun," Chandler said.

"It has," Rachel said. "I had never made Shrinky Dinks. That was a lot of fun."

"I had made them before, in Girl Scouts," Lara said. "But we always used Sharpies. They look so much better done with the colored pencils. I'm going to buy a box when I get home and do them with my cousins. They'll be super amazed. They're like six to ten, and I'm sure they've never seen them before."

"They make ones that are themed. That might be easier for younger kids," Kurt said. "There were ballerinas, insects, and several others."

"I might get the insect ones. Those would make good zipper pulls."

"That's a fun idea," Chandler said. "I could use the small leftover pieces to make music notes for zipper pulls."

They all talked about their upcoming finals and what they had to do while they ate.

When they finished, Lara, Kinzy, Brian, and Carlen packed their stuff up and put their coats on. They all headed to NYU together. Rachel and Quinn stayed to spend the night because Rachel's roommate was in town and Quinn didn't like staying in the room when she was there. Carlen had washed and dried the bed linens that morning when Kurt and Chandler were at work. Rachel and Quinn put the sheets on after Kurt pulled the bed out. They spent a couple of hours studying before they put in _The Santa Clause_ to start their holiday-movie-viewing season.

"This movie is awesome," Chandler said excitedly. "Thanks for letting me pick first. I loved it as a kid, and I still do. Did you know it was in production and came out in the year we were all born?"

Quinn said, "I did not know that, but I'm not sure that I've ever seen it."

"I might have when I was young. I'm not sure," Rachel said.

"Well, you're in for a treat then," Chandler assured them.

Kurt grabbed the plate of less aesthetically pleasing cookies and handed it to Chandler, turned the lights on the tree off, and climbed into the bed between Rachel and Chandler, who pressed start.

"This reminds me of our sleepovers in high school," Rachel said. "Back before I went nuts and nearly lost my best friend."

"Hey, now," Quinn teased.

"You barely spoke to me back then."

"That's because I was a mess. A huge, huge disaster. Counseling and getting Beth back has made a huge different in turning me into a more likable version of myself. And I don't mean that more people like me. I mean that I like myself a lot more these days."

"Me too," Rachel agreed. "Liking you more and liking myself more. I'm a lot less neurotic and ridiculous. I let myself enjoy my own life more."

"Now, _that_ I have learned to do too," Kurt said. "Letting myself enjoy the amazing life I have now. A year ago, I could not have even imagined this. And now this life is mine."

The previews finally ended and they all stopped talking.

* * *

"I can't believe we ate all of those cookies," Quinn said, when she took the empty plate back to the kitchen. "They were so good though. I feel like I should to about a thousand crunches, but I'm not going to do any. I'm tired and I'm going to sleep."

Chandler headed to the bathroom to shower after the girls came out from washing their faces and brushing their teeth. Kurt pulled the folding screen out and set it up for them. He wiped down the counters and the table again. He left the drop leaf sides on the table up and left their desk chairs pushed up to the table for breakfast. He emptied the dishwasher as well. Once Chandler came out, Kurt went in and showered quickly and did an abbreviated version of his skin care routine.

He closed the bedroom door behind him, dropped his clothes in the hamper, and got in bed with Chandler, who was spooning Queenie. He scooted up behind the two of them and snuggled in tight. "I think we might need to buy another blanket. Or maybe I need to make some snakes for the windows to cut down on the draft."

"Snakes?"

"Long, pellet-filled fabric tubes. But now that I'm thinking about it, we could use pool noodles. They're cheap and we could fill them with rice to make them heavy enough not to slip off the windowsills. But first we need to see if there's really that much cold air seeping in or if it's just because we have higher ceilings and no hot air actually circulating. If that's the case, one of those small electric heaters would probably be the best solution. We could move it around to wherever we want to warm up just a small area." He kissed along Chandler's shoulders and his neck. "We can figure it out tomorrow. I had a lot of fun today."

"Me too. Are Rachel and Quinn dating?"

"I don't think so. I'm not sure that either one of them is ready to admit that they each other that way. Right now, I think that all of their sordid history balances out all of the newness of college life and their disinterest in opening up to people just yet. They both may have moved away from the pinnacle of their better-than-thou attitudes, but that doesn't mean they're ready to let new people all that close to them. They know most of each other's secrets – the ones they don't share with people they meet. You know, Quinn's epic loss of the life she had led for making a bad choice, Rachel's birth mother dangling herself out to Rachel just to pull away, and the disaster that happened from letting Shelby adopt Beth. Quinn was not of sound mind when she made that choice. She was under so much stress. Her mom showed up to reconcile about two minutes before she went into labor. She had lived with three classmates during her pregnancy. She was certain that her own mother wasn't suited to raise Beth. The whole thing was a disaster. You've heard her tell all of this herself."

"I have. But I see it in their eyes. They really seem to care more for each other than ex-rivals for a boy's love who have recently bonded over screwed up childhoods and mommy issues. Their demeanor around each other has changed. They're more touchy-feely and they smile at each other a lot."

"I know. I see that. But I'm not going to say anything. They both need a good close friend and I'm not going to jump to any conclusions beyond the fact that they get along well now. I'm glad for them. If it turns into something besides them being good friends, then it does. I'm not playing matchmaker or making comments about it to them. The two weekends a month that Quinn comes to visit are the four days a month that Quinn gets to be an 18-year-old that does things with people her own age. She needs that. I won't make her uncomfortable by teasing her about making puppy heart eyes at Rachel."

Chandler chuckled. "She really does."

"Can you roll back just a bit without causing Queenie to jump down?"

Kurt propped up on his elbow and kissed Chandler when he rolled back a bit. "I love you. I love living here with you and Queenie. I've decided that if you're still fine with it that I'd like to stay here in New York for Christmas. I'm sure my dad won't be thrilled, but I think they'll come here. We'll need an air mattress for Finn and Janine."

"We'll work on the details tomorrow. And I'm fine with it." He rolled back more, onto his back and wrapped his hand around Kurt's neck and pulled him down gently. "I love you so much. I want you to know that I'm happy here too. School is hard work and working can be frustrating because I pick up after people my whole shift, but sharing my life with you is amazing."

They rearranged until they were able to kiss comfortably.

* * *

The following Friday evening was the NYU Winter Concert. Carlen and Rachel met up with Kurt and they sat together. They went to one of the dorms that several of Chandler and Brian's classmates lived in for a floor party. Kurt and Chandler and stayed for about an hour because both had to work early the next morning and Chandler was doing a magic show early in the afternoon at a Christmas party.

They spent the rest of their weekend studying for finals.

* * *

After four grueling days of studying and taking exams, Kurt had finally finished all of his. Chandler had one left the next day, but that evening he was performing at another Christmas party. They were both shocked to find how many rich people threw Christmas parties for their kids before they left town for European holiday trips. It was great for their savings and Chandler enjoyed performing, so it was a win/win for them.

That evening Kurt dressed up and headed to NYADA to watch Rachel perform in the Winter Showcase. She was so excited to be chosen as one of only ten students to perform. They had gone shopping for just the right dress, which turned out to be a white strapless dress with silver accents with a fitted bodice and a full flowing, floor-length skirt. She wore her hair down in large curls. She gave an excellent presentation of "Being Good Isn't Good Enough".

After Rachel sat down, Madame Tibideaux walked to the center of the performing area. "Next, we will have a brief intermission, after which, as a surprise addition to this evening's performers, I'd like to invite Mr. Hummel to sing for us. He was offered a place in the freshman class this fall, but has deferred to studying elsewhere at the moment. I'm still hoping that he will change his mind and join us here at NYADA."

Kurt panicked. He had nothing prepared to sing. He exited out the side of the round room. Rachel followed him.

"Rachel, I can't just get up there and sing cold."

"You have ten minutes to warm up. Follow me." She led him to a small classroom just off the hall heading farther into the building. "My favorite performance of yours was when you sang 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'. Sing that now, for me, as a warm-up."

"What will I sing when I get out there? Everything I can think of is something she probably hates from hearing it butchered so many times over the years."

"It doesn't matter what she likes. Pick for yourself. Pick something that means something to you because you are an amazing performer, Kurt. I was awful to you because I was afraid of your talent. You were the first person I ever met who was as good as me. Or maybe better. I'm sorry for contributing to how terrible your high school experience was. Of all people, I should have been on your side. I knew how a lot of the people in Lima treated my dads. No more time for apologies. Sing."

Kurt closed his eyes and tried to center himself and relax.

_-  
I wanna hold your hand.  
I wanna hold your hand._

He took a deep breath when he finished. "I know what I'm going to sing. Let's go. I need to tell the orchestra."

Kurt took his place in the center of the performing area. "I'm Kurt Hummel and tonight I'll be performing a song that I've loved since I was six, but I think for the first time in my life, I finally understand what it means." The orchestra began the intro to 'Being Alive' from _Company_. When Kurt finished singing, the audience quickly stood applauding for him. He bowed slightly and returned to his seat next to Rachel. The remaining five performers gave their presentations. Another 10-minute recess took place while refreshments were set up and the winner was chosen. At the end Madame Tibideaux took center stage again.

"This year's Winter Showcase winner is Alexandra Blasucci."

Everyone applauded while Alexandra made her way to stand next to Madame Tibideaux, who handed her an envelope and moved back to her seat for everyone to applaud for Alexandra again. She bowed and went back to her seat.

Everyone got up and began to make their way to the back to have some of the refreshments. Kurt was shocked when Chandler texted him and told him to turn around. He waved at Kurt from the back.

Kurt crossed the room and hugged Chandler. "You're here."

"I am. I got here at the end of the person before Rachel. I watched you and you were absolutely _amazing_."

Adam came up from the side. "Breathtaking, really," he added. "Rachel's song was well done too. I'm going to go find her and tell her, but I wanted to find you first. You were great."

"Thanks. I was scared to death. I had no idea she was going to ask me to sing."

"So, it was a surprise for you? I would have never guessed. Now, I'm doubly impressed." He clapped Kurt on the back and nodded. "I'll see you Saturday evening."

Kurt smiled and turned back to Chandler.

"The party wasn't that far from here. I just took a taxi here. I figured the two of us could get a taxi together from here."

"Sounds good to me. Let me go tell Rachel that I'm leaving. I'll be back in a few minutes." Kurt gave him a quick kiss. He didn't return as quickly as he had thought. He was stopped by several people as he made his way through the room and back.

"Mr. Hummel?" A middle-aged man stopped him.

"Yes?" Kurt turned one last time, barely 10 feet from his destination.

"My name is Parker Rodgers. I run a community theater program. We're set to open tomorrow evening, performing _Into the Woods_. Unfortunately, last night our Jack was in an accident, which had nothing to do with the staging, but I won't describe due to privacy issues."

Kurt nodded in understanding.

"I contacted a few universities with musical theater departments today inquiring about a tenor with a young countenance who could fit in with a mostly high school age cast. Madame Tibideaux assured me that she knew just the person. She invited me tonight and put you on the spot to prove to me that you can perform under pressure. My apologies on that. So, I'm here on behalf of the rest of our actors, who have been rehearsing for six weeks, and all of our ticket holders to see if you might be willing to play Jack in our performances. This is a 20-show run. We will not perform on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, or New Year's Day. We have matinees on Saturdays, but no evening show. Our high school actors are unpaid, but since our situation is dire and our shows are nearly sold out already, we are willing to offer you $2000 even though Jack's role was originally being played by an high school student. The main question is whether or not you can be ready to perform Jack tomorrow afternoon. We will hold an extra dress rehearsal tomorrow afternoon – if you think you can do this."

"I know all of the songs and most of the spoken lines. Do you have a script and a score so with you so that I can rehearse before tomorrow?"

"Yes, I do."

"May I ask why you didn't have an understudy for Jack?"

"We did. He was also in the accident. They were brothers. Twins actually. They wanted to split the role."

"I see. I am definitely interested. Is costuming going to be a problem?"

"I don't think so."

"I do tailoring. If there's an issue, I can bring it home between the rehearsal and the performance and alter it to fit correctly."

"Excellent. That will help take the stress off of our seamstress for tomorrow afternoon since she'll inevitably end up with something to repair after the dress rehearsal." He reached into his briefcase. "Here's the script, the score, and the recording the others have been using to practice with. We'll use this same recording for the performances. We don't have a live orchestra."

Kurt took the materials. "I'll be ready tomorrow. I do need an address and the time to arrive."

"Yes, of course." He rattled off the address.

Kurt put it in his phone.

"Please be there at 2:15. We've asked all of the parents to have their children excused from school in time to arrive at 2:30 tomorrow. We've been rehearsing at 6 in the evening, but obviously we had to make an exception."

"I'll be there."

"I'll have a contract ready for you to sign after the rehearsal tomorrow afternoon."

"That's fine. I can sign it after you're sure that I'm going to be able to do it."

"Thank you for being willing to give this a try. The kids were heartbroken when we told them because their friends had been injured, but also because of the likely loss of the ability to perform."

Kurt nodded. "I can imagine. One of the girls in our show choir was in a car accident and used a wheelchair for quite a while our senior year. She did recover, which was remarkable. She's studying drama at Yale."

"I hope for the same outcome. We'll see you tomorrow." He tipped his head slightly, in a single nod and walked away."

Kurt looked up and saw Madame Tibideaux watching from across the room. She smiled and nodded once as well. Kurt smiled back.

* * *

That evening when they got home, Chandler had more studying to do for his last final. Kurt sat down at his desk as well and transferred the CD to his computer to iTunes and then to his iPod. He gave Chandler a kiss as he moved from his desk to the sofa to listen to the music while going through the score. He hadn't told Chandler what Mr. Rodgers had offered him. He wanted to keep it a secret until after the rehearsal in case it didn't work out. He knew that Chandler's only plans for the evening were with him at home, baking more cookies for their Christmas party the following evening. The tricky part was that Finn and Janine were due to arrive late that evening, which was something he would have to deal with if he was going to take the role.

They had changed their plans for the holiday and Burt and Carole changed the tickets that Kurt and Chandler had originally to use themselves to fly from DC to New York, and then two days later on to Ohio when Finn and Janine had planned to leave. Rather than getting an air mattress, his parents were going to stay at a place a few blocks away the one night they'd be in town.

After listening to the songs he would be a part of, he moved to the script and began to memorize the lines. He was very familiar with the musical, but familiarity and perfectly memorized were far, far apart. When Chandler got up, Kurt put everything on his desk and realized that he shouldn't keep the information from Chandler. He would want to know if Chandler was getting a chance to audition. Just because he might not succeed wasn't a reason to keep it from him. He wrapped his arms around Chandler from behind as he was putting his textbook back on the shelf.

Chandler turned in his embrace and wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck. He leaned in, gently pressing his forehead against Kurt's. "What's up? You've been especially pensive since we left the Winter Showcase."

"That man that stopped me on my way back to you–"

"Yeah?"

Kurt explained the entire situation.

"You're serious?"

Kurt nodded.

"That's amazing."

"It is. I'm going to get up and work on it until it's time to be there. Hopefully, I can memorize all of my lines by then. The songs are fine. I've listened to the soundtrack a ton of times."

Chandler kissed him. "I have faith in you."

"Thank you. Let's shower and go snuggle. Queenie is staring at us."

Chandler looked back over his shoulder towards the sofa. "So, she is. She's ready to go to bed."

* * *

Kurt arrived at the high school about 15 minutes early. He stepped inside and went to the office to find out whether he would need a pass to be in the building. He was informed that he had come in the wrong doors and that he needed to go back outside, around the side of the building, and enter the auditorium through the outside doors.

He went around and opened the door and stepped inside the lobby.

"Oh, Kurt. Great! You're here," Mr. Rodgers said. "If you'll follow me." He handed Kurt a heather gray t-shirt and a hoodie with a black Into the Woods logo on the front and the name of the theatre group on the back.

Kurt noticed that rather than a suit like the previous night, Mr. Rodgers was wearing slacks and a gray polo with the theatre company logo embroidered on the left up chest area.

"You'll need to change into one of those. We have all of the actors wear them. The ones for sale to the general public are different. This just helps us keep people who aren't a part of our theatre group out of the area. All of the adult's involved are wearing shirts like mine."

"Sure." He looked around and found a sign pointing to the restrooms. "I'll go do that and come right back." He returned a few minutes later wearing the t-shirt and carrying the hoodie.

"Great. If you'll follow me, I'll introduce you to the others."

* * *

Three and a half hours later, they had made it through the entire musical with brief stops to get Kurt's blocking right, plus they had rehearsed all of the music numbers that Kurt was in another couple of times. Kurt changed back to the t-shirt quickly and went back out to the stage to run through things in his mind once more. He moved around the stage and went through scenes in his mind.

Mr. Rodgers came back out and waited until Kurt noticed him.

"Oh, right. The contract." He moved to the front of the stage and sat down. He read through the papers and signed.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Is there anything else I need to do, Mr. Rodgers?"

He chuckled. "Please call me Parker."

"Alright."

"And I think for tonight, you should just leave the pants the way they are with the safety pins. You can put a few extras in. It's already 5:00. You said you live in the Garment District. You can't get there and get back here by 6:00. I wasn't thinking about how long we'd be here. We've been rehearsing from 6-8:30. Anyway, I'd like to take you out to dinner and that way we'll have time to get back here without rushing. You were amazing today. I can't tell you how much everyone appreciates your willingness to jump in."

"Sure. I'll need to text my boyfriend and tell him that I won't be home. I didn't realize the show started at 7:00. I was assuming that it would start at 8:00, but I didn't take into account that you're trying to reach out to kids and it's a long show."

"Not a problem. He can even come eat with us. You can order for him and he can eat when he gets there." Parker gave him the name of the restaurant. "Just grab whatever you want to bring with you and you can text him outside while we head out to eat."


	31. Chapter 31

Chandler found his seat and started working through the logistical issues at hand. Finn and Janine were flying in that evening and he and Kurt had planned to meet them at the airport, but Chandler wasn't willing to leave during Kurt's opening night in his first professional role to go out to La Guardia. He texted Janine and told her what had happened. She responded quickly, assuring him that she and Finn could just take a taxi to the apartment and wait on the landing outside their place if they had to and that she would keep it a secret so that Kurt could tell Finn himself.

Next he moved on to inviting everyone who was coming to their Christmas party the following evening to come see Kurt in the matinee before the party. He had seen a sign in the lobby for Characters and Cookies, the costumed meet and greets after the matinees on the weekends and he thought it would a fun way to surprise Kurt to have everyone stay after. He offered to buy everyone's tickets and let them reimburse him the next day. After texting back and forth with everyone for quite a while, he finally got in touch with everyone and they all agreed to come.

He went out to the ticket counter in the lobby and managed to get tickets for everyone. There wasn't a large group of seats available, so he bought them in groups of two, with the exception of one set of three for himself, Finn, and Janine. Once he had the tickets, he went back and sat in his seat and waited. It didn't take long for other people to start to arrive.

* * *

As soon as the curtains parted, Chandler could barely restrain his excitement. There was Kurt sitting center stage with Milky White. It was the first time that Chandler had seen Kurt in a production from the vantage point of the audience. Now, he understood Kurt's enthusiasm when he was waiting to see him after _Peter Pan_. There was just something magical seeing someone you loved doing something they loved. By a few lines into "I Wish", he was completely entranced.

When the show ended, he stood and clapped. He sat back down and waited while the auditorium emptied out. He figured with it being their first run-through with Kurt in the cast with no stops that there would be some things the director would want to go over, but he was surprised that just Kurt and the director came out and stood for a couple of minutes and talked. The director went backstage again and Kurt pulled his phone out and called him since they hadn't agreed upon a meeting place before Kurt went back to change before the show.

Chandler stood up and moved to the center aisle and called out for Kurt rather than answer the call.

Kurt looked up and smiled. He hurried up the aisle and into Chandler's awaiting arms.

"You were fabulous! No one who saw you tonight would know that you hadn't been rehearsing with the cast the whole time."

"I hope you're right. They've worked really hard. I didn't want to be the weak link in the chain and let everyone down."

Chandler released his grip and stepped back so he could look Kurt in the eyes. "You definitely did _not_ let anyone down. You were amazing! So good!" He handed Kurt the bag he had brought with him and Kurt put the costume in it. He kissed Kurt gently before taking his hand.

They left the auditorium and stopped in the lobby for Chandler to take a picture of Kurt next to the poster. They put their coats on and headed to the subway. Chandler stopped before the got past the edge of the auditorium and took another picture of Kurt by the poster that was on the outside. When he finished, he stepped closer and pecked Kurt on the lips and took his hand again.

"It was amazing," Kurt gushed. "I had a lot of fun performing _Pip, Pip Hooray!_ this summer, but this was different. This was performing in a musical that I've loved for a long time. I have to be here an hour early again tomorrow and then there's the Characters and Cookies event after the show tomorrow and Sunday."

"I saw that. It sounds really fun."

"I think so too. Did you get everything worked out for Finn and Janine?"

"I did. I put the sheets on and everything before I left. I didn't get breakfast done though because you called and said to come meet you."

"It's fine. We can just cook in the morning."

"I want my dad and Carole to come see the show. I need to figure out which night. We'll talk to Finn and Janine and look over the things we had planned to do. My getting a role for the whole three weeks of break is going to make things tricky."

"We'll make it work somehow. We'll have to work on getting everything organized Sunday morning because I know you still have to work at the shop in the morning. I'll call Brian when we get home. I'm sure that he will help me do the stuff we were going to tomorrow afternoon while you're at work."

"I'm glad I took the time to talk to him that day. He's become a really good friend to us."

"He has. And Carlen's funny."

"That he is."

* * *

When they got to the top of the stairs, Janine got up and hugged both of them quickly. "I'm so glad for you, Kurt," she said as a whisper in his ear. "I didn't tell Finn like Chandler asked me too."

Chandler unlocked the door and let everyone in.

"Dude, those tacos were awesome," Finn said to Chandler. "Thanks for telling Janine how to get there. I want to go there again at some point. I want to try all of them."

"We did that one night with a friend of ours. They were all good," Chandler said.

"We're definitely doing that," Finn said. "Your place is great."

"Thanks," Chandler said. "Everything's ready for you to sleep. I know it's not quite 10:30, but Kurt still has to work in the morning."

"We remember," Janine said. "We can just watch a movie."

Finn stepped closer to Kurt to hug him. "Why is your hair like that? Are you wearing make up?"

"I got a professional role in a musical. Tonight was opening night. That's why we couldn't meet you at the airport like we had planned." Kurt bounced up onto his toes.

"Oh, my God, Kurt! That's amazing. We're going to get to see you in it, right?"

"We'll work that out. I want Dad and Carole to see it too."

"Right. Of course," Finn said.

"I'm going to jump in the shower and get all this make up off. I do need to use the sewing machine to take up my costume a bit."

"Sure, dude."

Kurt rolled his eyes, but not angrily. He still hadn't quite gotten used to being called 'dude', but he had quit trying to get Finn to stop after Finn told him that since he was a guy and not a girl that he was a 'dude'. He let the costume on his desk, grabbed some pajamas, and went into the bathroom.

As soon as he was out of the room, Chandler almost started to tell them about the surprise he was planning, but then he remember Kurt telling him about how Finn was prone to letting things slip, so he decided to wait until after Kurt had left for work the next morning to tell them. "Don't tell your parents about the musical."

"What?" Finn had been looking through his bag for something.

"I said don't say anything to your parents about the musical. Kurt hasn't gotten a chance to tell them yet."

Janine asked, "When did he get the role?"

"He signed the contract this afternoon."

"Oh, wow. That's really late."

They were talking about how it had all come about when Kurt came out of the bathroom. Chandler got up and went to shower. Kurt made the alterations to the waist and the sleeve cuffs quickly while Chandler showered. And continued the story from where Chandler had stopped. He hung the costume up and got the room divider set up and headed off to bed.

* * *

Kurt waited for Chandler to get comfortable and then splayed himself out mostly on top of him and began kissing him.

"Mmm. I love kissing you, but I thought we were going to sleep."

"I'm too hyped up to sleep."

"They have a movie on. I doubt they can hear us. I know what I could do to relax you." Chandler began kissing down his neck.

"Yes, please." Kurt rolled onto his back.

* * *

Brian and Adam arrived about 30 minutes after Kurt had left. The two of them were the best cooks of their group of friends and Chandler knew that Finn was useless in the kitchen, so he set Finn up with their Wii while the other four prepped food for their Christmas party that evening. They finished up about noon. Chandler thanked Brian and Adam before they headed off.

Kurt came home for long enough to eat lunch, grab the costume, and shower before he left for the auditorium. The other three left 30 minutes later to meet up with everyone before the show.

Brian and Carlen were already there when they arrived. A few minutes later, Rachel, Quinn, Adam, Kinzy, and Lara arrived. And just about the time Chandler had finished the introductions Adam and Callie walked up.

Chandler introduced them. "Adam and Callie, this is Kurt's brother Finn and my cousin Janine."

Adam offered his hand and Finn shook it.

Quinn asked, "Are we ready to head inside? It's freezing out here."

"Don't forget to meet in the back left corner of the auditorium. We'll wait until the actors are set up, and then we'll go out as a group to surprise Kurt."

Everyone nodded.

* * *

When Kurt was focused on talking to a boy about 10, who was clearly a huge fan of the musical, the group crossed the room and stood to the opposite side of Kurt, who was sitting on a rugged looking stool in front of the backdrop for cast photos. When the boy's mom told him they had to go, he asked for one more picture and then left with his mom.

"Can I have a photo with you too?" Carlen asked in childlike voice.

Kurt turned and started laughing. "I can't believe all of you are here! And yes, Carlen you can take a picture with me. Get over here, all of you."

Chandler handed his camera and phone to one of the ushers and asked her to take a few photos. Once they were done, Chandler took it back and they all moved away from Kurt to give more people a chance to talk to him.

Once the meet and greet was over, Kurt washed his face and changed. He put one of Chandler's beanies on to cover his hair and met everyone in the lobby. "I still can't believe all of you came. Thank you."

"You were great, Kurt," Adam said. "We wouldn't have missed your debut in professional production." He hugged Kurt.

Rachel was next to hug him. "You were amazing."

Several of the others hugged him as well.

Chandler wrapped his arm around Kurt's waist.

"Well, then let's go, shall we? Our audience awaits," he said cheerfully. He wrapped his arm around Chandler and they led the way back to the subway.

* * *

"I missed the memo on something," Quinn said when they got off the subway and weren't in Kurt's neighborhood.

Kurt responded to her confusion. "This week, I took it upon myself to find a place where we could go caroling successfully. And I found that there is a place called the Lexington Home for Retired Performers where old Broadway performers live. I called and they said that they'd love for us to come. So, I went in person the other day to set it up. I met this really sweet lady named Maggie Banks. She's going to lead us around for a bit and then we're going to sing in their performance room. Let's go."

"That's cool," Quinn said. "I had never considered that they're would be a place just for retired performers."

"I forgot to tell you. Sorry about that," Rachel said.

Quinn shoulder bumped her. "No big deal as long as you didn't volunteer me for a solo that I haven't practiced."

Kurt said, "Nope. No solos. We're just singing in four or five part harmony, whatever we cam manage to pull off."

"Works for me," Quinn said. "At least I don't think they'll throw shoes at us."

Kurt shook his head. "That was bad. This should be fun."

A block later, they had reached their destination. Maggie was waiting for them just inside the lobby doors. She had nametags for them to wear as official visitors. Once they had them on, she led them through some halls where there were residents who weren't able to get out of bed.

She set it up so that they ended in the performance room. There were already a group of about 30 people in the room. They arranged themselves on the stage and began to sing. After the first song, they asked the residents to join in with them. Kurt sat down at the piano and played a simple version of the songs to keep the group on key and mostly together. After about a half-hour of singing, they closed with "We Wish You a Merry Christmas".

* * *

They sang on the subway and on and off on their way from the subway back to the apartment. Once they got inside they piled their coats in the bedroom and began to set up and serve themselves dinner. They had their six chairs in the living room already and several of them began to put the food out on their table and the counter tops.

Kurt pulled Chandler aside for a minute in their bedroom and hugged him. "You're amazing. You managed to get someone to help you. It smells delicious in here. You're so sweet. I love you so much." He kissed him soundly.

Chandler wrapped his arms around Kurt and kissed back wholeheartedly.

Rachel stepped in to put her coat down, having left it on for a bit because she was still chilly. "Oh. Sorry."

Kurt stepped back. "It's fine, Rachel. It's not like I've never seen you kiss someone."

She smiled. "Right. I'll just leave this here." She put her coat on their bed.

Kurt pulled Chandler close again. "You are an amazing boyfriend. Never doubt that."

Chandler kissed him. "I do my best. I love you too."

The two of them joined the group and made plates of food for themselves. They talked about the show and everyone's plans for the break while they ate. Once they finished, a few of them worked to put the food that could spoil in the refrigerator. They left the soups in the Crock-Pots on warm, in case someone wanted more.

Rather than buying each of their friends something really inexpensive, the group decided on buying a single item that they would love to be gifted that had a value of $15-$20. They had wrapped the gifts in a box using in brown paper as the gift wrap to keep anyone from guessing who had brought what and what was inside.

Kurt wrote a number on each one and handed it to Chandler to put the center of the room. Afterwards, each person drew a number from 1-12. Everyone looked through the stack to find the gift with their number on it. Before anyone opened anything, Kurt checked that no one had picked up their own gift. Rachel had. Lara offered to trade with her.

They went around opening them in order. Lara had drawn the number one, so she started. Kurt had drawn number 12, so he was the last to go. His was the first to not be a DVD or a CD.

"This is a beautiful scarf. There is no way the value of this is between $15 and $20. I love it and I'm absolutely keeping it and wearing it, but whoever made this should know that it's worth at least $50."

No one claimed to be the giver of the scarf.

Kurt wrapped it around his neck and squished his nose down into it. "Thank you to whoever brought it. It's perfect."

Kinzy said, "I want to listen to this Pentatonix Christmas CD. Can we put it in? I love their music. I watched them on the _Sing Off_ every week. I cheered so loud when they won. You know, they're, like, our age and _sooo_ good."

"Sure," Chandler said. "After that rave review, how could I say no?" he teased.

She got up and put the CD in.

Kurt said, "Anyone who got something they already have or wants to trade can put their gift in the box that's on the bed by the coats and bags. That way you can consider your trade options in private."

"I wondered why there was an empty box on the bed," Brian said.

Chandler asked, "Who's ready to play Charades?"

* * *

Kurt was exhausted by the time everyone left. He showered first again while the other three straightened up and turned the sectional back into a bed. When he came out, Chandler went in. He went to the living room to sit down with Finn and Janine for a little bit.

He pulled his desk chair out. "How was your flight? I never did ask yesterday."

"Boring mostly," Finn said. "Which I guess makes it the perfect flight. If we lived just like halfway here, I'd just drive because it takes between five and six hours to get to your place from home, but it's a 10-hour drive, so flying still saves times."

Janine said, "You've made some fun friends here."

"We have. Chandler invited a group from NYU over early in the semester and again a few weeks later, but Kinzy, Lara, and Brian were the only keepers."

Janine laughed.

"We picked up Carlen via Brian. They started hanging out after the Masquerade Ball at NYADA. He's in the Apples with me, Brian, Callie, and of course, Adam, who's the leader."

Janine asked, "So, Brian, Kinzy, and Lara are from NYU and Carlen, Adam, Callie, and Rachel go to NYADA. And Quinn comes to visit from Yale. Have you not made any friends at FIT?"

"Not really. If Chandler and I hadn't performed with the Apples this summer, it's unlikely that I would have met any students at NYADA. And like you said, Chandler met the other three in his classes at NYU. Between working at the shop, working at Vogue, going to class, and doing all of my schoolwork, I don't have much free time. We work hard to plan to have time to have people over twice a month or so. Chandler does more things with other people he knows from his classes when he's on campus. But he's just working one job. I'm working two. It is what it is. The internships are part of my coursework, so I can't drop them. Plus, it's really the only way I'll know if going into fashion is what I really want to do. Coursework alone won't tell me what it's like to be part of the industry."

"Yeah, I get that," Finn said. "But it just seems really unfair that you don't have time to do much of anything. Your dream was to live here and from what it sounds like, you don't get to do much of anything here."

Kurt nodded. "I know. I think about that some days when I'm rushing from here to there and back again. I feel like I'm backing out on our plans too. We've been planning for the two of you to come for months, and then I took this role."

Janine stopped him. "Hey. We do understand. Roles aren't things that typically just offer themselves to you. This was a total surprise and it's your first professional role. And you were great. Finn and I can either stay here and watch a movie or we can venture out and go exploring while your parents go watch you one of the nights they'll be here."

Chandler came in from the shower. "That's what were going to figure out over breakfast tomorrow. Let's get some sleep." He waited for Kurt at the edge of the living room. "Goodnight, you two."

"I'm glad you're here." Kurt got up and put the room divider up on their way out.

"Night," Finn said.

* * *

Tuesday morning, Kurt and Chandler had brunch ready when Burt and Carole arrived from the airport. Finn opened the door and let them in. Kurt took their coats and small suitcase and put them in their room to get them out of the way. They freshened up and joined everyone at the table.

"This is good," Burt said after he swallowed his first bite of the quiche Kurt had made. "I miss your cooking, bud." He turned to look at Carole. "You're a great cook, hun, don't get me wrong, but there are things I just got so used to eating that they just were a given until you were gone, Kurt." He looked back at Kurt. "I miss your Sunday morning breakfasts."

Carole agreed. "Your dad's right. I miss them too. I'd like your recipe. I can at least give it a go and see if it turns out as good for me."

"Sure."

Burt asked, "So, we're going to your show tonight? After we go to Rockerfeller Square?"

"Rockefeller Center, but yes. We're going to go visit several places in that area when we leave and when we're ready to go to the auditorium, we'll leave Finn and Janine there to skate. We'll give them our spare keys to get in whenever they come back. And Chandler will come home to collect his stuff to go do a magic show at a last-minute birthday party he was offered. We figured why turn down $400 when you two were going to be at the show watching me."

"Good point," Burt agreed.

"Do you make $400 for every show?" Finn asked. "That's a lot of money, dude."

"It _is_ a lot of money," Chandler agreed. "And no I don't usually make that much, but their entertainment cancelled Sunday and they were desperate because they already have the party venue and catering paid for and they can't get their money back at this point and most people either aren't taking jobs right before Christmas or they're already booked. Their son had been to a party a couple of weeks ago that I did and he begged them to get me to do his party. So, they offered me $400 to do it at the last minute. We're saving up to go to Paris, so the extra money will help a lot. And this is the time of year when I can make the most at it since there are so many parties. Honestly, it's a whole month of working 15 hours a week at the variety store."

Janine sighed. "It's too bad you can't schedule one party a week at whatever you normally get paid. You wouldn't have to work at the variety store at all."

"That's true, but I do get a discount there, so it does save us time because it brings the cost down to what we would pay at a bigger chain, but it's just across the street. This party tonight is super swanky though. They're sending their Town Car to pick me up, which saves a lot on the taxi fare."

Finn said, "I hadn't thought about that. You have to deduct the taxi cost both ways. A ride in a Town Car will be cool though."

Burt nodded. "It's fine. We'll all be busy doing something we enjoy and we'll meet back up for an early breakfast tomorrow and have our Christmas together."

* * *

When they got to Rockefeller Center, they took some family photos in front of the giant tree first since the sun was actually shining when they got there. They arranged in several different configurations. Burt and Carole. Burt, Carole, Finn, and Kurt. Finn and Kurt. Janine and Chandler. Kurt and Chandler. Finn and Janine. All four teens. And they managed to get someone to take several photos of all six of them together.

They stopped in St. Patrick's Cathedral because none of them had ever been in a cathedral before. They walked around and looked at the architecture and the stained glass windows and were surprised to find one of the organists practicing for a concert the following weekend. They all sat and listened for about 20 minutes before moving on. Kurt put returning for one of the full concerts on his dates-to-plan list for the future.

They briefly visited the American Girl store because Janine had loved them when she was young. They stopped in the Lego store for Finn for the same reason. They walked through the lower level of Saks Fifth Avenue, went into Swarovski, Christie's, and Jangmi just long enough to ooh and ahh quietly before leaving. They walked along the outside of the General Electric Building, admiring the Art Deco architecture and went inside to look at the murals and check out the interior Art Deco features. They walked through area the stores were in as well, window shopping.

When they left, they splurged and got hot dogs from a cart. Kurt teased Burt that he could only have one once a year. They found a couple of benches to sit on and enjoyed their hot dogs, even though it was a bit chilly to be eating outside without their gloves. Once they finished, they went their separate ways.

* * *

When they found their seats in the auditorium, Burt and Carole were glad to finally sit for a while after they had traipsed all through the Rockefeller Center area all afternoon.

"This place is something," Burt said. "So many people."

"It's not my kind of place to live. I like visiting because there are so many things to see and do, but I wouldn't want the hassle of taking subways and dealing with the crowds all the time. But you can see on Kurt's and Chandler's faces how much the two of them love it here."

"I know. I knew when he left, he'd never move back. Even if he doesn't end up staying here in New York City, he'll end up in some other big city."

The lights dimmed in the house and everyone who wasn't in their seat moved quickly to find them. A few minutes later the curtain came up. The narrator came out on stage with the three scenes frozen in time. When the music started, the four actors on stage began to sing. Burt's face lit up with a huge smile. When the show was over, he was the first one on his feet cheering and clapping.

He sat back down with Carole while they waited for Kurt to change. "He's so good. Why is he studying fashion? Other than his internship, he never says anything about his classes."

"Burt, honey. You know why. His financial aid package at NYADA was non-existent and it costs 3 and a half times what it costs to attend FIT. He loves fashion too. I know he does."

"But he's great at this. Did you hear him? His voice is just so clear and understandable. And when he's up there, you don't see Kurt at all. There's nothing left of Kurt really. He was Jack. I mean we watched the _West Side Story_ video, and all I saw was kids pretending on a stage. None of them really made me think they were someone different, other than Kurt and Santana. Rachel and Blaine were believable as a couple, but it still felt like watching them, not watching whoever they were supposed to be."

"Tony and Maria."

"Right. But Kurt just becomes someone else. He's amazing. We could pay more than we're paying now. I don't want him to miss out on what he's wanted to do for so long."

"Burt, you know how stubborn he is. You two are an even match in pig-headedness."

He started to say something.

"Don't bother. You know I'm right."

It didn't take long before Kurt came in through the side and walked to where they were sitting.

Burt got up before he made it to them and pulled Kurt into a hug. "You were so good, bud. So good."

"Thanks, Dad. I'm glad you liked it."

They headed outside and continued to talk on the way to the subway.

"It was terrific, honey," Carole said. "This was a really nice production. I didn't know what to expect with it being a community theater production, but it seems that community theater in New York City is much nicer than in rural Ohio." She smiled.

"The other adults in the show are professional actors. It's not exactly community theater because the adults are paid and the teens and any kids are not. It's like a combination because the students learn from the professional actors and it's free for them to be a part of the show, whereas taking acting lessons or master classes with professional actors costs a lot of money."

"Sounds like a neat idea," Burt said. "Those acting camps and stuff I looked up were always so expensive."

"They use the ticket sales to pay the professional actors, but they use a high school auditorium to keep the cost low so that the people who live in this area can actually afford to take their family to see a high-quality show. They have a family ticket for $30, which can be two parents and all of their kids. You saw the regular tickets prices – $10 for adults and $5 for kids and teens. Plus, this auditorium is huge. I asked. It seats nearly a thousand people. It's a lot larger than most Broadway theaters, so even with the low ticket prices, they can keep their program funded."

Carole said, "Well, I thought everyone did a great job and you were particularly amazing since you jumped in at the last minute and fit right in like you've been a part of it the whole time."

"Everyone has been incredibly welcoming and has made me feel like a part of the group. Being in this production will give me a good feel for what it's like to be in a Broadway or off-Broadway show. I've never had a major role in anything that was performed day after day."

"That's true. It should give you some good insight, sort of like your internship at Vogue. When does that end?" Carole asked.

"It's supposed to be over already, but Isabelle is keeping me for next semester. We're supposed to switch every semester, but she appealed and won somehow. She told the school I have a lot of potential and she wants to be the one to help me hone it. I like working there, so it saves me the hassle of having to learn to work for someone else next semester."

They got on the train and didn't talk again until they were back up on the sidewalk on their way to the hotel where Burt and Carole were staying.

"What about performing?" Burt asked.

"It's so hard, Dad. Really, impossibly hard. I love it. I really do. But the fashion industry here in New York has a lot more potential of me at least being able to get a full-time job. Getting a role is so arbitrary sometimes. There's my looks, my build, my voice, and none of those scream 'Cast me as the straight male lead.' We've talked about this before. I just don't know. I feel like I can't just hang my future on playing an adorable teenager until I'm 30."

Carole said, "I think you're selling yourself short, Kurt. Really. I think you're capable of so much more than that. I think you need to let some of your friends from NYADA or NYU dress you up and work on being someone else, lots of someone elses. I know you fought for so long to be yourself, and you've come up with a style that's all your own, which I think that's fantastic, but you just pointed out that uniqueness may not be all its crack up to be when it comes to getting a role. Being an ordinary Joe Schmoe could be just what you need to be. I think you need to convince yourself first that you can be Joe Schmoe. I think your self-doubt is holding you back."

"Some tough mom love tonight?" He asked as he pulled the hotel lobby door open to let them walk through.

"Yes." She hugged him tightly once they were inside. "You know I love you. And I know you're amazing. Think about what I said." She let him go.

They walked over to the reception area where Burt was standing and waiting for their luggage to be pulled out of the hold area where they had left it early in the day before starting their sightseeing trek.

Kurt hugged Burt. "We'll see you in the morning. I'm going to head home."

Burt nodded. "See ya. You were great"

* * *

Kurt got up the next morning and started working on breakfast. Chandler woke up to an empty bed. He dragged himself into the kitchen to find Kurt flitting around making banana nut muffins and coffee. He could smell something already baking too.

"You're adorable," Chandler said, standing in the doorway to their room holding Queenie.

"Good morning, honey." Kurt blew him a kiss.

A smile crept up on Chandler's groggy face. "And you're making something that smells wonderful." He sniffed. "Pumpkin spice muffins?"

"Bingo! Dad and Carole really like them. I know they're not really Christmas-y, but I don't care. I'm making banana nut ones because they're Finn's favorite."

Finn rotated the end of the room divider and came into the kitchen. "Dude, you rock. Thanks for making my favorite muffins."

"You're welcome. They'll go in as soon as the pumpkin spice ones come out."

"I'm going to eat one of those too," he said as he walked through the room to go to the bathroom. When he came back out, he asked, "What time is it anyway? It's dark out still."

Kurt looked at the clock on the stove. "It's almost 8. It's just really overcast this morning."

"Oh, okay. I'm going to grab my stuff and shower."

* * *

Burt and Carole showed up at 9, as planned. They put their luggage out of the way in the bedroom with their coats. Carole came out with an envelope and put it next to their tree.

"Your tree is really cute. I like all of the ornaments and stars. You told me about the decorating party. It sounds like fun."

"It was," Kurt responded.

They all sat down together and enjoyed their muffins and coffee. They moved to the living room as soon as they finished eating.

Kurt handed out the gifts. Queenie curled up in his lap as soon as he sat back down.

"Now, honey, we told you not to get us anything," Carole admonished.

"I already had these by then."

She smiled and nodded. "So, who goes first?"

"Dad, I guess," Kurt said.

Burt opened his small package and pulled out a small black leather piece.

"It's to hold business cards. I figure you end up collecting quite a few and handing them out."

"I do. This is nice. I like how it's nearly square, like my wallet. I have a small case, but it just slips around in my pocket. This is much better. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Carole?"

She opened her large envelope. Inside she found a leather folio.

"It's the right size to hold three to four magazines. You mentioned how your puzzle books and magazines get damaged in your bag when you fly."

"It's beautiful, Kurt. It even has two slots for a pen and pencil. I love it."

Kurt smiled. "Your turn, Finn."

He opened his and it was a triangular leather pencil case. "Wow. I've never seen one like this."

"That's because I made it. I know how often you lose your pens and pencils. When you unzip it, you can get them in and out easily because it won't roll and the zipper extends past the end so it opens completely."

"Dude, you made this?"

"I did. I made the other two as well. Earlier this fall, Isabelle encouraged us to come up with a line of leather products. I came up with these. They're not exactly high fashion, but they're nice accessories."

Janine opened hers. She stood up and put the strap over her head and let the small bag hang to her side. He had made hers out of different colored leather pieces.

"Kurt, it's perfect. I like the lightweight chain strap. It will just collapse into a larger bag rather than having a leather strap to try to roll up or something. It's just the right size for what I carry around in my pockets usually."

"It for the days when your skirts don't have pockets and it's too warm for your Levi's jackets."

"It's great. When you're famous, I'll get to claim to have the original cross-body leather bag."

Kurt chuckled. "That's true. I'm glad you all like them. I had never sewn on leather before and Isabelle's challenge pushed me to give it a try."

Carole said, "I think you succeeded. All of the pieces are lovely. Go ahead and open yours."

Kurt opened the envelope and read the card with Chandler. There was a smaller envelope inside, which he opened as well. "Two tickets to see _Newsies_! This will be so much fun."

"I'm glad we picked Saturday evening," Carole said. "I knew you didn't work on Saturday evenings and I was hoping that Chandler could trade with someone if he was scheduled to work then. I started to panic when you told us about the show, but then you said that the weekend shows were matinees."

"This will be amazing!" Chandler said enthusiastically. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome," Burt said.

Janine handed them another envelope. Chandler opened it and pulled out the card and showed it to Kurt. He pulled out another small, credit card sized envelope. He slipped the card out, but didn't recognize the name of the place.

"It's a restaurant near the theater where _Newsies_ is," Janine said. "We thought you could use a nice night out. You're both so busy all the time."

"Thanks. I'm sure we'll love it," Chandler said.

Kurt got up and picked up the wrapping and put it in the recycling. "So, who's ready for our Christmas movie mini marathon?"

"Me!" Finn said. "But we are still doing the tacos, right?"

"Yes, Finn. We're ordering every kind of taco for lunch. You can go out with me and Queenie and help me bring them all back. We'll have a big taco feast before you all have to leave for the airport."

"Excellent."


	32. Chapter 32

By Christmas Eve, the show had been performed ten times and things were going so well, that after asking the cast, they added a Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve matinee to the run. The word-of-mouth advertising had made its way to a Broadway critic, who decided to go watch the show Christmas Eve afternoon. He stayed around for the Characters and Cookie event afterwards to talk to the actors, some of whom had been in Broadway or off-Broadway shows in the past.

Chandler performed at one last Christmas party that afternoon. He got home before Kurt and put the chicken, broccoli, cheese, and rice casserole into the oven. He took off his magician's costume and hung it up neatly. He opted to put the pajamas on he had worn the night before while waiting for Kurt to get home because he really wanted to shower with Kurt. He pulled his guitar out and practiced for a while. He sang through a couple of songs as well. He ended by playing a few Christmas carols, thinking back to singing at the retirement center, which had been a lot of fun. He was playing "The First Noel" when Kurt unlocked the door and stepped inside.

"Hey, honey. That sounded really good. If you start over, I'll sing with you."

Chandler never passed up a chance to sing with Kurt and played while Kurt hung his coat up and then began to sing.

_The first Noel the angels did say,  
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields where they lay.  
In fields where they lay keeping their sheep,  
On a cold winter's night that was so deep._

_Noel, noel, noel, noel,  
Born is the king of Israel._

They sang through the other verses as well before they ended.

Kurt stepped closer and kissed Chandler. "I love the harmonies on that song."

"I like it when you sing the harmony. That was a beautiful version. I don't think I've heard it before."

"Mmm." He kissed Chandler again. "I see that you're in pajamas, but your hair isn't wet. I'm getting mixed signals here," he teased.

"Well, that's because I didn't want to sit around in my costume, but I also didn't want to shower alone."

"I see." He kissed him again. "I'm going to go wash the stage make up off and get in the shower. It smells good in here. I'm hungry already. Shower and then eat?"

Chandler put his guitar down. And pulled Kurt closer and kissed along his neck. "Yes. Can we? Or are you too tired?"

"Yes, we can. I'm definitely not too tired for that."

* * *

Kurt looked through the peephole just to be certain before he opened the door to let Quinn and Beth in. Rachel filed in behind them, which confused Kurt, but he smiled as he let them all in and Chandler took their coats.

"Welcome, ladies," Kurt said.

Beth looked at him and gave him the most confused look. "I'm not a wady. I'm Beth."

"Of course you are. You look lovely this evening."

"You made me dis dwess."

"I did. And it looks beautiful on you."

"I know. Gammy and Mommy and Mimi and Wach towd me."

Chandler came back out into the kitchen.

"Unca Chan!" She ran at him.

He picked her up and twirled around in a circle. "How is the beautiful Beth tonight?"

"Hungwy. Mommy said it's wice and cheese and I fowget. I wike wice and cheese."

"Mommy is fixing your plate right now and Uncle Kurt is fastening your seat to the chair."

She turned her head and looked towards the stove. "Mmm." She started to squirm.

"Just wait and let them finish and I'll put you in your seat."

She stopped squirming and watch Kurt pop up the really cool folding chair that Quinn brought with them every time she brought Beth to the City and fasten it to the chair. It looked a lot like a mini version of a camping chair, but with straps that fastened it securely to a chair. Quinn said it had a tray, but she never brought it. Chandler fastened her in as soon as Kurt stepped aside.

"Rachel?" Kurt took Rachel into the living room. "Not that I mind that you came, but I didn't make anything vegetarian for dinner."

"It's fine. I can make myself a grilled cheese or something. Maybe you have a can of vegetable soup?"

"Actually, we might. I don't think I ate the last one. I bought some to take with me when we rehearsed before the show the first few days. Eating cold vegetable soup is better than cold soup with meat in it." He stepped back into the kitchen and opened the cabinet. He grabbed the last can. He grabbed a small pot and a skillet. He quickly prepared a grilled cheese sandwich for Rachel while she stirred the soup as it warmed up.

Chandler plated food for himself and Kurt. Quinn fixed her own plate. By the time they sat down, Kurt had finished Rachel's sandwich. He cut it into triangle quarters and put them around the edge of a plate with the bowl of soup in the center.

Beth, being the inquisitive toddler that she was, asked, "Wach, you don't wike wice and cheese?"

"I do actually like rice and cheese – and broccoli too. I just don't like chicken."

"Oh. I 'member. I didn't see chicken."

"It's fine. Everyone else likes it but me, so I'm having soup and grilled cheese that I like a lot."

"Okay." She turned to Quinn. "Mommy, is it not hot now?"

Quinn nodded. "You can eat it now."

She picked her spoon up and stuffed a bite in her mouth. She kicked her feet while she ate.

Kurt got up. "I forgot the drinks." He poured milk into a cup with a lid that Quinn handed him from her bag.

Chandler got up and poured glasses of ice water for everyone.

"Did you have fun visiting Gammy?" Kurt asked.

"Mmm hmm. We baked cookies. Ginjabwead."

"Sounds tasty," Kurt said.

"What's 'tasty'?"

"It means that they were yummy."

"Oh. The wice and cheese is tasty too."

Chandler smiled, "I'm glad you like it."

"You made it, Unca Chan?"

"I did."

They continued to talk to Beth to keep her entertained while they all ate quickly since they weren't staying long because they were heading back to New Haven to spend the Christmas Eve night at home.

When they finished, Chandler put the casserole dish in the refrigerator, and they left the dishes in the sink to deal with later. Kurt pulled out a box and put it in the middle of the floor in the living room. "Merry Christmas, Beth."

Her eyes grew big and she ripped the paper off the box and opened it to find several things wrapped in tissue paper. She pulled the tissue paper off and looked at it while holding it sideways.

"Come here and I'll show you what it is," Kurt said.

She stepped closer.

Kurt took it from her, rotated it, and slipped it over her head. "Turn around so I can see your back." He waited. He adjusted the criss-cross straps on the back so they laid flat and fastened the waist with the velcro. He looked over at Quinn. "They're modern-day pinafores. They're a little long now, but I looked up a growth chart and she's going to grow a lot pretty fast over the next two years. I made the criss-cross straps adjustable. Right now they're as short as they'll go."

"That pale denim one is adorable. You embroidered some flowers along the neck," Quinn said.

"I did."

"I like how they're gathered in the front," Rachel said. "Very feminine."

Beth pulled the next few out and ripped the paper off. She found six more in different shades of chambray fabric– pink, red, gray, charcoal, a darker denim, and purple.

"I figured that she can wear them over her regular shirts and jeans or leggings when she's feeling like she want to dress up. Once she can dress herself more, she'll be able to put them on herself."

Quinn smiled. "They're perfect, Kurt. She's going to have lots of fun playing with them."

Beth found one more thing at the bottom of the box and pulled it out. She ripped the tissue paper off. "It's a seep. A baby seep. It's soft." She ran her hands across the fluffy fur.

"That's from me," Chandler said. "It was so soft that I knew you would love it."

"I do. What's its name?"

"It's waiting for you to give it a name."

"Oh." She danced around the room making her dress twirl.

Quinn grabbed all of the tissue paper and stuffed it in the box and put the box on Chandler desk. Kurt picked up the other pinafores and refolded them and stacked them up on his desk.

She stopped for a minute. "I don't know. Hewp me."

Chandler asked, "Is the sheep a boy or girl?"

She looked it over. "A guwl."

Chandler offered, "Bianca? That's the word for white in Italian and it's a girls name too."

"Bee-ahn-ca?"

"Yep."

She repeated it again resolutely. "Bianca." She squeezed the stuff sheep and rubbed it against her cheek. "I wuv Bianca. Tank you, Unca Chan."

Kurt motioned for her to come to him. "I've made Bianca two traveling outfits. You can pick which one she wears today and your mommy can pack the other one with your pinafores."

"Okay." She climbed up in the chair and looked between a classic black and white houndstooth pattern and a black and white chevron pattern. "Dis one." She pointed to the houndstooth.

"Excellent choice. If you'll sit Bianca here on the desk, I'll put it on her." Kurt put what resembled a vest on the stuffed animal. "There. What do you think?"

"I wike it."

"Okay, now watch." Kurt picked up a black 1.5 inch nylon strap like a dog leash, but with small clips like a on both ends. The vest had a small triangular ring near the neck and near the tail. He clipped the strap on both ends. He put the strap over her shoulder and adjusted the strap length so Bianca hung right above her waist. "This way Bianca won't get lost in the subway."

She climbed down and started dancing around again.

Quinn moved and stood next to Kurt and Chandler.

Kurt handed her the extra vest. "I made them both black and white because I didn't know whether she would declare the sheep to be a boy or a girl. They can be washed and dried. So can the pinafores. I washed and dried all of the fabric before I made them."

"Thank you. The pinafores are adorable and that sheep in a baby carrier is insanely cute." She turned to Chandler. "Thanks for thinking of a name she can actually say. We're working on the other sounds, but it will take time. Bianca is a perfect name. Thanks for dinner. I'm sorry that we have to run off so quickly, but with it being Christmas Eve, we need to get going."

Kurt hugged her. "You're welcome. I'm glad she liked everything."

Chandler hugged her next. "Enjoy your first Christmas with Beth."

"I will. I already am. We'll see you next week." She took a deep breath. "I'm as ready as I'm going to be and I can't put it off anymore. Thank you for being willing to host what will most certainly be a very emotionally charge situation."

Kurt nodded. "We're here for you." He looked over her shoulder. "Rachel has Beth ready to go with Bianca on over her coat this time, and her own coat on."

Quinn moved quickly to pack the new stuff in the backpack she had with her. She slipped her coat on, the backpack on, and picked Beth up. Rachel grabbed her suitcase. Kurt opened the door for them. He and Chandler waved when they got to the landing.

"Merry Christmas!" they said at the same time.

"Me-wee Cwistmas!" Beth echoed back.

* * *

Christmas morning, Kurt and Chandler made breakfast together and set Chandler's laptop up to Skype their friends and family. They started with their friends and talked to each one for just a few minutes. They called Burt and Carole at 9, as previously arranged.

Carole answered. "Come on guys, Kurt and Chandler are ready to talk to us."

They waited for Burt and Finn to sit where they could all see each other. Once they were all three in view, both of them said, "Merry Christmas!"

The three of them repeated it back.

"So, we went to see _Newsies_ and it was awesome!" Chandler gushed.

"It really was great," Kurt added. "Thanks for the tickets. And the restaurant was really good. It wasn't super fancy, but it was nice enough that we didn't feel dumb dressed up like we went because you know we went dressed up."

Carole laughed. "Of course."

"So the food was good?" Finn asked.

"It was. And not too overpriced. Of course, it was overpriced, it's next to the theaters on Broadway, but it wasn't like $40 for a hamburger."

"That's insane," Finn said.

"Some prices here are insane," Chandler agreed. "But the place had dinners for like $20 and it was enough to be full, so definitely a decent-priced place for its location."

Finn said, "I'm glad it was good and you got to dress up like you like."

"I'll be right back." Finn got up and came back. "Can you hold the laptop so they can see me?"

Carole turned it and tipped the screen back a little.

"That's good. Look what Mom and Burt got me." He zipped a black leather bomber jacket. "We found one with a removable insulated lining so I can wear any time I need a jacket." He leaned down. "I got these amazing boots to go with it. I need to you to send me a list of what to buy to treat the leather. I remember you telling me once how all of your shoes always stayed looking so nice."

"I can do that. Those look really good together. They'll look great with the new jeans you got after Thanksgiving."

"Yeah. I need to get some more of those. Janine and I are going to hit the sales early tomorrow morning."

Kurt chuckled. "I'll send you the list later this afternoon so you can get the stuff you need when you're out tomorrow."

"Thanks, dude."

"You're welcome. That jacket will last you the rest of your life if you take care of it."

"That's what Mom said. I'm going to go hang it back up."

Carole turned the laptop back around to face the sofa. "We won't keep you. I'm sure you have other people to call still. I'm so glad we got to see you last week. We had a lot of fun."

Burt chimed in. "We did. And I'm really glad we got to see you in the show."

"Me too."

"Merry Christmas, to both of you," Carole said.

Finn came back in. "You're still calling me in a little bit, right? 10:30."

"Yep."

"Alright. Bye."

Kurt clicked the session closed. "He's dying to tell us something. I still think he's asking Janine to move in."

"I think so too. He's been doing a good job of keeping it a secret though because she hasn't hinted at anything."

"I know just what I'd like to spend the next 80 minutes doing," Kurt said as he climbed onto Chandler's lap.

"Yes."

"You don't even know what it is yet."

"You're sitting on my lap being incredibly sexy. Whatever it is, yes."

Kurt kissed down his neck and slipped his hands under Chandler's shirt and ran his fingers gently across his skin. "I left the little heater on in our room, so you won't be needing this shirt or the pants."

"Perfect. I'm ready."

"Already?"

"You're so hot, it doesn't take much. Hop up."

Kurt got up and took Chandler's hand. "Queenie stays out here." He leaned over and stroked her soft fur. "We'll be back in a bit. You can look out the window on my desk while we're gone." He picked her up and put her on the pillow he had made especially for her to lay and look outside.

* * *

Finn answered the Skype call. "Janine is in the bathroom. She'll be right out."

Kurt was blunt. "You're using protection right? And not just condoms."

Finn's face flushed even more than it already was. "Kurt, shh."

"I won't be quiet. The last thing you need right now is a baby."

"How did you know?"

"As if I've never see someone after they just had sex. Tell me she's on some kind of birth control too."

"She is. Shh. I don't want her to think I told you." He saw the bathroom door open. "Here she comes."

She came bounding up and slipped right in front of Finn on the floor where he was leaned up against the sofa, facing the coffee table. "Hi, guys! Guess what?"

"What?" Chandler responded excitedly.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out her key ring. She rotated them until she got to a purple one that looked brand new. "This is my new key to this apartment. Finn asked me to move in with him and I said YES!"

"I'm happy for you, Janine," Chandler said. "Really happy."

"Me too," Kurt added. "Did you tell anyone else yet?"

"Burt and Carole know, but we're going to tell Mom and Dad when we go over there for lunch in an hour or so." The excitement was evident in every aspect of her body language. She leaned back into Finn's chest.

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the neck. "I'm really glad she said yes."

"He got me a special fancy purple key made." She held it up again.

"It's cool," Chandler said with a big smile on his face. "I'm glad you're happy."

"I am. I'm going to move a lot of my stuff over tomorrow after we finish shopping. Or Thursday if we're too tired."

"Sounds good," Kurt said.

They talked about going to see _Newsies_ and the restaurant and other things for about a half-hour before they disconnected.

"We were right," Kurt said.

"We were. You know what else we were right about?"

"What?"

"Us. We've been together for nine months as of today."

"Mmm hmm. I know. And I've enjoyed all nine months."

"Me too." This time he was the one who moved and sat on Kurt's lap facing him. "You know what else?"

"What?" Kurt shifted a bit and wrapped his hand around the back of Chandler's neck and gently pulled him forwards enough to be able to kiss him.

"I love you."

Kurt smiled. "I love you too." He kissed him.

Chandler stood up, put his hand in his pocket, and pulled out two 2-tone, double love knot rings, but palmed them so that Kurt had no idea what he had. He knelt in front of Kurt. "I know that you're the person I want to be with forever, Kurt. I have no doubt." He opened his hand. "It can be a promise ring or engagement ring, if you're ready for that."

"You want to marry me?"

"Yes. What about you? Do you want to marry me?"

"Yes, but not tomorrow or something."

"Of course not. I just want you to know for certain that I want to be with you now and always. Getting married will just be a formality that the government needs so that I can visit you in the hospital when it's 'family only' and things like that."

He put his hand out and touched the rings. "They're really interesting. I like how the bands aren't welded together. Each band can still fully move, but the two are tied together through the love knots. And they're different colors of silver. And even the knots aren't perfectly symmetrical."

"They're different colors because they're different metals. The lighter colored one is tungsten and the other is stainless. We can pick other rings when we get married if you want, rings that look like more traditional wedding bands. This ring is just an outward expression of my love for you. We're both our own people, but we're willingly joining our lives together."

"I really love how much effort you went to with considering the symbolism of what you chose."

Kurt held his hand out for Chandler to put his ring on him. And he picked the Chandler's up. Chandler turned his hand over. They slipped the rings on each other at the same time.

Chandler leaned forward and kissed Kurt. "I love you so much. I want to be yours forever." He started to hum "So Happy Together".

Kurt got Chandler to stand up and wrapped his arms around him and started to dance and sing the words. Chandler joined him.

_Imagine me and you, I do.  
I think about you day and night. It's only right,  
To think about they guy you love and hold him tight.  
So happy together._

_I can't see me lovin' nobody by you,  
For all my life.  
When you're with me, baby the skies'll be blue,  
For all my life._

_Me and you. You and me.  
No matter how they toss the dice, it had to be.  
The only one for me is you, and you for me.  
So happy together._

They started acting silly and horsing around when they got to the ba-ba-ba part. Kurt dipped Chandler, who in turn dipped Kurt as soon as he got the opportunity. They were both laughing and smiling.

"I really love you so much, Chandler. I don't want you to think anything different. I was just really surprised is all. I really do love the rings. And I'll proudly wear mine as often as I can. I need to get a chain for it when I'm at the shop or on stage."

"Have no fear, a chain is near." Chandler moved his hand to the side of Kurt's face, brushing his fingers along his earlobe. He pulled his hand forward and showed Kurt a nice beige leather necklace with a small, specialized, heart-shaped lobster claw swivel clasp to fasten the ring to that would not open easily from being bumped.

Kurt chuckled and shook his head. "How did you do that?"

"A magician never tells his secrets." He reached up and fastened the necklace around Kurt's neck. "The beige leather should keep it from being noticeable on stage."

"You thought of everything."

"I got one for myself as well because I can't wear a ring on stage either. And whether our rings are on them or not, the necklaces look nice."

"I admit that I have never seen heart pendants that are actually lobster claw clasps. They're very elegant, yet masculine. You did a great job finding something so uniquely perfect."

He undid one button on his shirt to show Kurt that he was already wearing his. Kurt took it as an opportunity to place kisses on the skin that was showing. "It looks good on you," he said as he lightly blew cool air over the places he had been kissing.

"You know that drives me wild."

"Mmm hmm."

Chandler took his hand and pulled him towards the bedroom.

* * *

A week later, they were preparing for meeting they had offered their home for. They prepped two cheese, rice, and broccoli casseroles to bake later – one with chicken and one without. They baked and sliced up a few loaves of different types of breads – banana nut, applesauce, and cinnamon raisin. They had stocked up on coffee and had borrowed Dahlia's coffee pot for a couple of days while she was out of town so they could make more coffee at once.

Puck arrived at around 2pm. Kurt let him in. He had Puck put his bag in the cabinet above the coat closet and hang his coat up before they sat down to eat sandwiches and chips for an late lunch.

"What's with the Fort Knox level of secrecy?"

Kurt responded, "Puck, you know I can't tell you. I agreed to let this meeting take place in our home as a favor. Just eat and be patient. You don't have to wait much longer."

"Sure." He sighed. "This is a nice place. Small, but the layout makes it not too claustrophobic."

"We like it here," Chandler said.

When they were done, Chandler cleaned everything up and loaded the plates in the dishwasher. Kurt got Puck to sit on the sofa. Chandler answered the door at 2:30 and let Quinn in.

Puck stood up as soon as he saw her. "Quinn?"

"Yeah. I wanted to talk to you someplace safe and private, not some restaurant somewhere." She came in and sat down in the middle of the long side of the sofa.

Kurt sat to her left and Chandler to her right.

Puck sat down on the short side and turned towards them.

"First off, I want to make it clear, that anything I say has nothing to do with our relationship – between me and you. We don't have one and we aren't going to attempt to rekindle one. That's not why I asked you here."

Puck nodded. "Yeah. I get that."

"And it's not because you're a Lima Loser that I won't get back together with you. That was an awful thing for me to say to you. I was fifteen. My words and bad behavior were a combination of absolute fear and desperation. I knew that my parents would never accept you as the father of my child, whereas I had mistakenly thought that someone more 'acceptable' like Finn would tone down my father's wrath a bit. But obviously, I was wrong about that. He hated me period. The father's identity didn't matter at all."

Puck nodded again. "I know I had a terrible reputation and I get that Finn was the golden boy. It sucked, but I got it, even back then. I wasn't good enough. Hearing it was nothing new."

"That doesn't matter. I was wrong about so many things and I'm sorry." She took out her phone and pulled up a photo of Beth and handed her phone to Puck. "She'll be three in just a little over two months."

"I know how old she is. She's beautiful. She's still just as perfect as she's always been."

Quinn closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened them and said, "She's living with me in New Haven."

Puck's expression cycled from confusion to anger to resigned, and then back to confused. "How? When?"

"To be honest, I went after Shelby after the two of you slept together. That's like a felony level crime for her to sleep with a student. The fact that no one ever prosecuted any of those women who raped you is criminal as well."

"That was all consensual."

"Nothing anyone does under the age of 16 is consensual in Ohio. That's why you had no say in the adoption, why your name isn't currently on her birth certificate. I didn't want you prosecuted for rape by my father. Finn is younger than you. If it had been him, we would have both been 15 and my father couldn't have done anything. Anyway, what Shelby did with you was wrong, and she knew it."

"You made her leave the school," he realized.

"I did. I also went after Beth. I thought I might lose when I ended up in the wheelchair after the accident, but I recovered and I continued my efforts to get her back. I did prove that Shelby was negligent, but I also got Shelby to get help for herself. I moved to New Haven as soon as I graduated. We transitioned Beth to living with me full time. I bring her here once or twice a month to visit Shelby, who is doing better, but it still not suited to be a full-time mother to a toddler. She calls Shelby Gammy. She is still too young to really understand family relationships."

"So, she's been with you for," he paused. "For six months and you didn't tell me?"

"Puck, you said you were going to HVAC school. I happen to know that you just graduated not quite two weeks ago. You're here now, aren't you?"

"You're right. I needed to finish school and not just jump ship. I'll be able to get a decent job now."

"That's what I was hoping. I'm giving you a chance. An opportunity. You have three options. You can remain a non-entity in her life and when she asks when she's older, I'll tell her that I got drunk one night and slept with someone, and that while I didn't love her father I love her very much and that I wanted her from the time I knew she existed."

"The second option?"

"You can have a marginal role in her life. She can know that you're her dad and you can visit with her if you come to New Haven or here. You can talk to her on Skype. Obviously, that will get easier as she gets older, but she can tell you about her stuffed animals or TV shows she likes and you can ask her questions about stuff for now. When she's older we can just tell her that you and I realized that we weren't right for each other and went our separate ways, but that we both still love her."

"That's better than the first option. What's my third option?"

"You can move to New Haven and be a part of her life on a regular basis. If you get a job and an apartment of your own, we can work out her spending time with you there. You can teach her to play baseball, well, I guess softball since she's a girl. You can take her to tae kwon do class and learn with her. Whatever the two of you are both interested in. But you have to make a full commitment to that option. You can't come into her life and then walk away again. She's going to therapy already for her speech issues. She's caught up developmentally with occupational therapy already. But she already has abandonment issues. Shelby was a mess. Anyway, she's doing well now. The child psychologist thinks that she's ready to have you be a part of her life, if that's what you want. If not, you can be Uncle Noah if you want and you can go back to Lima or wherever and you can be someone she sees occasionally. She calls Kurt and Chandler 'Unca Kuht’ and ‘Unca Chan' already. I'll give you time to think it over. I'm going to go get her and bring her back. Rachel will be with us. She thinks we're coming over because it's a holiday. We came for Christmas Eve. It's your choice, Puck."

"Noah."

"What?"

"I want you to call me Noah. All of you. Tell Rachel. Puck is dead to me. I don't need time to think. I'm choosing the third option."

"I can call you Noah, but I'm still going to give you a couple of hours to think. Rachel, Beth, and I will be back in two hours. Living on the East Coast isn't cheap and if you end up having to move into a place with some other people, you can spend time with her at my place. I'll do schoolwork somewhere else. I can go to the library or to my mom's."

"Your mom's?"

"She moved to New Haven a couple of weeks ago. She got a job and bought a small 2-bedroom place about a half-hour from where Beth and I live."

He nodded. "Maybe Kurt can help me do some research while you're gone."

"Sure," Kurt agreed.

"I'll be back," Quinn said. She grabbed her coat and let herself out.

Noah leaned back and closed his eyes. "I feel like I walked into the _Twilight Zone_."

Kurt said, "That may very well be, but I'll turn my laptop on and you can do some research." He got up and sat at his desk and started his laptop up. "She never said that you had to decide today. You could apply for jobs until you get one, and then move."

"I get that, but the faster I get my butt to New Haven, the sooner I can be a part of Beth's life. It's like the best New Year's Day ever."

Over the next hour, Noah submitted applications for three available HVAC installation/repair positions and found an apartment that he made an appointment to go see the next day. Surprisingly, one of the potential employers responded within the first hour. He scheduled an appointment for an in-person interview the next day.

"Fortunately, I brought my black slacks from Glee and a button down shirt. I can wear those tomorrow."

"What about Sarah?"

"I guess I never mentioned that Ma signed her over to me, did I? The day after I graduated from my HVAC program, she had me meet her at an office building I had never been to. I went to the room number she gave me and she had the papers drawn up. I signed them. I wasn't ready to be her sole guardian, but I couldn't risk whatever it was Ma had up her sleeve. I haven't seen her since. Sarah and I moved out of the apartment we've been living in all these years the next day. We've actually been staying in your parents' spare room for the last–" He paused, thinking. "The last ten days. They said we could stay until I got a job and could get us a place of our own. It's just that no one in Lima is hiring right now. So, if I can get this job tomorrow, it will be me and Sarah both moving to New Haven. She could use a fresh start on life. She's in the sixth grade right now. So, if we move now, she'd have time to make some friends before she starts junior high and no one will see 'Puckerman' and think 'Oh, God, not again.'"

"My parents haven't said anything about you two being there."

"I guess they probably thought Finn told you."

Chandler raised and eyebrow. "I think Finn's too busy with Janine to think about telling us about you and Sarah."

Noah laughed. "Probably. She's sweet."

"So, you're ready to just pack it all up and move out to New Haven?" Kurt asked.

"It beats living in your parents' spare room for who knows how long. I was actually going to look around here for job options, but New Haven is probably more my speed. And that apartment is half of what you're paying here and it has two bedrooms."

"That's true," Chandler said. "But we like it here. We haven't been out to New Haven yet. We were going to over break, but Kurt got the role in the musical. I guess we could go tonight and take the train back tomorrow afternoon. It would be a short visit."

"That's true. Why don't you look up how much a hotel room would be? If Noah doesn't mind sharing with us, we could split the cost of a single room."

"As long as I don't need ear plugs, I'm good."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "As if I would do _that_ with you in the room."

Noah held his tongue, but chuckled quietly.

Kurt got up and put the casseroles in the oven while Chandler looked up hotels.

* * *

When Quinn, Rachel, and Beth showed up, they all just sat down to eat. Beth didn't pay much attention to Noah after asking his name. She had been there when other people she didn’t know were there, so it seemed normal to her. They left afterwards for the train station and she slept most of the way there.

Once they arrived in New Haven, Judy showed up to shuffle the three guys to their hotel for the evening. They showered and went to bed since they were getting up early the next morning.

They had opted to stay in the cheapest place since they had all of the bread Kurt and Chandler had baked to eat for breakfast. They grabbed their complementary coffees and went outside to wait for Quinn and Rachel. Quinn left Beth at home for the morning since only five people would fit in her car.

Quinn drove Noah to his interview. It was cold, so they ended up taking refuge in a bookstore until he called looking for them. He was pleased with how it had gone. They went to look at the apartment next. It was much nicer than Noah had expected. He put in an application.

They went out to the beach for a few minutes just for the view and found a reasonably priced mom and pop place to have lunch. Quinn dropped Kurt, Chandler, and Noah back off at the train station. Before they had gotten back to the City, Noah got a call offering him the job, which he accepted.

Once they were back at the apartment, Noah called Sarah and talked to her. Together they made the decision to start over in New Haven. He changed his flight out the next available, which wasn't until midnight. He left with Kurt to watch the musical. Chandler had a party to do that evening.

When Kurt met up with Noah after the show, Noah said, "You were really good."

"Thanks."

"You two can come out to New Haven and help me find a way to furnish that place on my shoe string budget. We've got nothing but a few boxes of clothes and my TV and Xbox. That's why we moved out. When I got to the apartment that afternoon, nothing was left but our personal belongings. Sarah came home from school the last day before break to find out that Ma was just gone and so was everything else. This is the perfect time for me to just leave the past behind. Thanks for setting all of this up. I'll call you when we get to New Haven this weekend."

"Have my dad fix your truck up this week," Kurt said as Noah got in the taxi that Kurt had flagged down.

"I will."


	33. Chapter 33

Kurt left after the final Cookies and Character event and went straight home. He jumped into the shower, changed into the clothes laid out for him, dried his hair quickly without styling it, and put one of Chandler's beanies on. Chandler stood at the door holding his coat and helped him into it. Kurt kissed Queenie on the top of her head.

"We'll be back tomorrow. You have food and water and everything you need. Feel free to get up on my desk and look out the window from your throne." He gave her a few gentle strokes down her back.

She mewled a bit, but they couldn't dawdle or they'd miss the next train to New Haven. Kurt locked the door and headed down the stairs. When they got to the bottom, Chandler put his backpack on the right way and they both put their gloves on before they stepped outside. They made it to the train on time and three hours later they were in New Haven where Rachel and Quinn were waiting to pick them up outside the train station.

They climbed in the backseat quickly and Quinn pulled out of the loading area.

"So, P–, Noah and Sarah are about 15 minutes out. We're going to make it to his place at the same time, or pretty close to it. Rachel's ordering pizzas now. We're going to pick them up. They stopped for lunch about 2:00, but not for dinner. Once we eat, we'll unload their stuff, which, from what he said, shouldn't take long. What's going to take some work is that the beds were delivered this afternoon. We'll need to get those put together."

"We can do that," Kurt said confidently. "Can I ask you something about Beth?"

"Sure."

"When you first told me about what had happened, you said that she had caught up in speech, but then the other day, you said she's still going to speech therapy."

"Oh. There's two components. She wasn't talking in short sentences like she should have been. She'd just point and name things rather than saying more than one word. She's caught up as far as using the right length sentences for how old she is, but she's still not making some sounds that she should be able to make. She's not technically behind because all of the sounds have a range of acquisition. So, she's still got time, but she'll age out of free therapy when she turns three, so I'm just going to keep taking her until then with the hopes that if they keep working on the ones that she's struggling with that she'll acquire them more quickly. We started it as soon as I moved to New Haven. Shelby had kept her very infant-like for a long time, not teaching her to feed herself and still giving her only bottles or sippy cups with baby-type lids. When I first got to see her a little over a year ago, she was eating stage 1 and 2 baby food and she was 19 months old, which was about nine months too old to be eating that kind of baby food and about six months too old to only be drinking from a baby bottle or baby-type sippy cup. She didn't know how to feed herself at all."

"So, Shelby wanted her to stay dependent on her?"

"I've never asked so directly, but it seemed so. I think in the daycare in New York, they just had too many kids and she didn't get much attention and at home, Shelby felt guilty for putting her in daycare and then just carried her around a lot. Shelby loves Beth. I don't doubt that. She just wasn't prepared for it to still be hard 18 months in. I'm not sure. I was a mess too until I went back on anti-depressants after Noah kicked my ass verbally. That's why I'm giving him a chance. He wanted to be a part of her life as much as I did. I just had more support to make it happen."

"And he's turned his life around too," Kurt said.

Rachel spoke up. "Shelby is doing better now. She started going to therapy last summer. She and I have been going together too. It's hard. What she did to me really hurt, but knowing that she didn't mean to hurt me actually helps. I'm not sure that makes a lot of sense."

Chandler said, "It makes a lot of sense. She has issues that have nothing to do with you and because of those issues she made choices that she didn't think through the consequences of before she put things into motion. She only saw the outcome she wanted. And didn't factor in that you were an already mostly-grown person, not a child anymore. You weren't opposed to having her be a part of your life, but you didn't need a 'mommy' anymore and she was looking for someone to love her unconditionally."

"That's a very succinct and non-emotional summary," Rachel said.

"Probably because I didn't live through any of it like the three of you did. I've just heard the three of you talk about it."

"I don't know where the therapy will lead, but at least it's helped me be less angry about what happened. I'm going to look Jessie up and suggest that he get some therapy too. What she asked him to do was just wrong and no student should be put in that position. She forced him to do something he didn't want to do. I really did like him, but part of why I liked him was because he was so interested in me and he said really positive things to me. So, knowing what I know now, it's impossible to know whether anything he said or did was acting or real. One of the things I liked most about being with him was dancing with him, but now I have Brian, who is a magnificent dancer and a patient teacher who doesn't put up with my 'self-aggrandizement', as he so bluntly put it. He told me he could only help me if I let go of the notion that I was any good. He flatly informed me that I had been mis-taught several things and that until I re-learned to do them correctly that my dancing would suffer eternally."

Quinn laughed. "He's something."

Kurt laughed too. "He is, but he whipped Rachel into shape and Miss July stopped calling her names ages ago."

"She keeps reminding me that Brian should be nominated for sainthood because she brought another one of my classmates that just couldn't get anything right to meet him and he helped her too. She said something about his superhuman eye for detail allows him to see the root of the issue and address it. Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised to find that Brian is our TA soon."

Quinn pulled up and reached back and handed Kurt a $20. "Add $10 for you and Chandler and grab our pizzas, please."

* * *

A few minutes later, they pulled up to Noah's place. He and Sarah were coming out the door. Rachel carried the pizzas inside and put them on the counter in the kitchen.

"If it's okay, can we go ahead and grab the boxes out of my truck? There really aren't that many and I don't know enough about this neighborhood to know whether to trust that they'll still be there in 15 minutes."

"Yeah, sure," Kurt said.

They followed him back out and they had everything inside in ten minutes.

"Food!" Sarah said. "I'm starving." She grabbed the bags of stuff they had bought at Walmart the night before and took them into the kitchen. She pulled out a bottle of dish soap, hand soap, a pack of hand towels, dishcloths, window cleaner, cleanser, a pack of sponges, a pack of paper towels, and a pair of gloves for cleaning. "Can someone grab that toilet paper and that other bag and take it in the bathroom."

Kurt grabbed it.

"Thanks. As soon as we eat, I'll clean the toilet, and then we'll all feel better about it."

Kurt smiled. "We'll start to assemble your bed first for you generous sacrifice."

"I like him," she said as she turned to Noah. "There's no plates, so it's paper towels or nothing. We didn't buy any actual stuff for the kitchen. Oh, but there is a case of water. Can you put that in the fridge, Rachel?"

"Yes, of course."

Five minutes later, they were all standing around eating.

When Kurt had finished his second piece he asked, "So where does your stuff go, Sarah?"

She shrugged.

Noah answered. "She's in the bigger room. The one to the left. Neither of the rooms is all that big, but she's the one that's going to need the floor space to pull that trundle out and still be able to walk around in the room."

"Got it."

Kurt and Chandler started carrying the boxes for the trundle bed into the room.

Noah said, "Thanks for moping in here and cleaning the kitchen while you waited for them to deliver the stuff. That helps a lot."

"You're welcome," Rachel said.

Kurt came back out for the tools he'd brought with him. "That's a really cool bed. It's a trundle, plus there are drawers underneath."

Noah said, "That's why I picked it. I got a similar one for myself, but it just has three deep drawers rather than a place for another bed. We don't have any dressers and this way we won't need them. I'll have a place for Beth to sleep if she ever wants to sleep over and Sarah will have a place for a guest to sleep over if she decides to invite anyone at some point. There's a matching desk and chair that I'm ordering for Sarah the first paycheck I get. Kurt said he found some places with potential for us to go look through tomorrow to see if we can find a nice cabinet or table or whatever for the TV and some bar stools so we don't have to stand up to eat."

Sarah said, "We looked at bean bags thinking they'd be cheap to sit in until Noah could buy us a couch, but two nice adult-sized ones were going to be like $250. It was ridiculous."

Kurt said, "Why don't you and Rachel look through the Craigslist ads and see what you can find. Look for sofas, bar stools, and long dressers to use as a TV stand. You can use the drawers to store your movies and games. Chandler can go help Noah and Quinn can come help me."

"Sure." Quinn got up and followed Kurt into Sarah's room.

Kurt kissed Chandler on the side of the neck and asked him to go help Noah.

* * *

Two hours later, the beds were made and ready to sleep in.

Sarah stepped back and looked at her bed and a huge smile spread across her face. "I love the whole look. I'd never seen furniture stained gray, but I really liked it when we were looking online and it looks even cooler in person and the gray and yellow comforter looks perfect. I love it. I'll get a desk soon, which I have never had, and it's going to be so cool because I'll have somewhere to draw besides my bed or the floor. I'm going to put it right there." She pointed. "The desk has this cool separate part that sits on top of it where I can put books and my drawing stuff. Noah said I can get a computer when I finish 6th grade. It's going to be so fun. I already know exactly what drawing program I want to get. I'm going to try to get some babysitting jobs this summer so I can buy it. Or even yard work. Anything." She looked at her bed again and smiled. "Okay, never mind all that. When me and Rachel were looking at stuff, we found some ads for some stuff I liked and I emailed them. A couple said we could come tomorrow morning."

Rachel handed her phone over to Noah.

"Good job, squirt."

"Noah! You promised."

"I'm sorry. You're right. I'll stop. I will."

"School starts Monday. You've got to stop calling me that."

He nodded. "You did good with these. That couch is cool. I would never thought of getting a red couch. But it would go with those four bar stools you found and the dark wood on those stools is like the same color as that crazy dresser you found. It could work. And $200 would be a great price. But we need some kitchen stuff too. We'll go look at it all and see if it's as nice as it looks in the pictures. If it is, I'll figure out a way to get them. I would be a lot nicer to not sit on the floor to watch TV."

* * *

Sunday at 1:00, everyone reconvened upon Noah and Sarah's new place. They had split up that morning and bought dishes, pots, and glasses at Goodwill, picked up the furniture that Sarah had found on Craiglist, and gotten everything cleaned and put away. They had ordered Chinese and it was out on the counter ready to be served.

Quinn and Beth had been talking about fathers and reading books that had daddies in them for a couple of days since Noah had made the choice to move to New Haven. Quinn waited out front and Beth arrived with Judy about ten minutes later.

"Daddy wibs hewe?"

"Yes, with his younger sister, who is your Aunt Sarah."

"Aunt Sawah?"

"Yes. Do you want to be the one to ring the doorbell?"

"Mmm hmm."

Quinn lifted her up and let her press the button. Kurt opened the door.

"Unca Kuht?"

"That's me. Come on in, Miss Beth. May I take your coat?"

"I can do it mysewf." She unzipped it and took it off.

"Can I hang it in the closet?"

"Mmm hmm. Wheh's Unca Chan?"

"He's over there in the kitchen."

"Unca Chan!" She ran at him as he stepped where she could see him.

He picked her up and spun her around like she was expecting.

She pointed to Sarah, who was standing next to Rachel. "Aunt Sawah?"

Sarah nodded.

Noah was sitting on the couch and was waiting patiently for her to come to him. Chandler put Beth down so she could look around.

"We got rice, chicken, and vegetables, and there's other stuff up there if you want to try it," Rachel said.

She walked to Rachel and put her arms up. "I wanna see."

Rachel picked her up and carried her over to the counter. "I know you like that one." She pointed.

"Mmm hmm. What's dat one?" She pointed.

"Moo goo gai pan."

"Can I hab dat one?"

"Sure. You can have anything you want."

She leaned in and whispered, "I gotta to potty."

Rachel sat her down and took her hand and led her to the bathroom. When she came out, she looked in the rooms. "Dis is Sawah's woom? I wike de fwowahs."

"Me too," Sarah said. "Noah let me get the pretty flowered bedspread last night. The whole set came in one bag. I'll show you." She got Beth to follow her in. "See look. The bed has a secret. You wanna know it?"

"Mmm hmm."

Sarah pulled out the trundle.

Beth smiled. "Two beds."

"Two beds."

She wandered back out and walked up to the couch. "Noah?"

"That's me. I'm your daddy, but my name is Noah. Like your mommy's name is–"

She interrupted, nearly squealing, "Quinn. My mommy's name is Quinn. Wach and Unca Kuht and Unca Chan and Mimi caws hew dat."

"You're right. We all call her that. So, everyone calls me Noah, but you can call me Daddy."

"Okay. Can we eat?"

"Sure. You can go first."

"Yay!" She ran off to Kurt. "Hewp me?'

He scooped her up and Chandler walked in front of them and put everything she asked for on her plate. Quinn set up her folding chair and held the tray, ready to put it on. Kurt sat her down in it, Quinn fastened the tray, and Chandler put her bowl and a spoon and fork down for her.

Noah sighed as Quinn sat down next to him on the sofa. "I'm glad you warned me that it would be very anti-climatic. She's too young to understand any of it, so she just accepts your statement and mine that I'm her daddy and she just goes on being a toddler."

Quinn kept her voice very low. "She has no understanding of where babies come from. Family relationships really don't make that much sense to her right now. I'm reading her books with daddies in them. That's the best we can do for now. We'll keep coming over to visit you and Sarah. You two can come visit us. The more often you just spend time in the room with her, the more quickly she'll just accept you as part of her life. Just be friendly, like Kurt and Chandler were. Talk to her and listen to what she says and just do it on her terms. She's very friendly and she took to the two of them really quickly."

He nodded. "I can do that. This is going to work, Quinn. I can't even tell you how much this means to me."

"I know, Noah. I really do know. I know the absolute relief I had when I got her back. I think the timing is perfect. She's gotten used to living in New Haven. There's a park not far from here that she loves. I told you that. She loves the ocean. When it warms up you can take her and Sarah there."

"That will be cool. I've never been."

"You'll love it. Trust me. Let's get some food. I'm going to have my mom take her back to her house for a couple of hours after we eat so we can talk."

Noah got a plate of food and sat down on the floor near Kurt, Chandler, and Beth. Quinn joined the other three that were sitting up to the counter on the bar stools.

"I wike youw umm…" she pointed.

"The sofa?"

"Yeah. It's pwetty."

"Sarah picked it out."

She looked over at Sarah and pointed. "Aunt Sawah."

Noah nodded.

"Daddy?" She pointed at him.

"Yes. I'm Daddy."

"Okay, Daddy. I wike dis wice."

"Me too. It's really good."

After they finished eating, they all hugged and said their goodbyes. Judy took Kurt, Chandler, and Rachel back to the train station. Kurt and Chandler talked with Beth, who was fastened in her car seat between them, all the way to there. Quinn stayed behind to talk with Noah for a while.

* * *

Kurt pulled his phone out of his pocket when it buzzed.

-Qu'est-ce que tu fais?

-Rien. Je suis dans le train. Pourquoi?

-I was just wondering.

-I can Skype you when we get back. It should be about an hour and half.

-Where are you?

-Connecticut somewhere? We're on our way back from visiting Quinn.

-Alright. An hour and a half. See ya!

"That was Sebastian. He wanted to know when we'd be home. I gave him an estimate and told him we'd Skype him when we got home."

"I still can't believe you made friends with him after what he did," Rachel said.

"Retract your claws. Miss Pot calling the pot black. I'm pretty sure that you remember Sunshine."

She sighed. "Right. And you're friends with me. Never mind. Be friends with him. It's no skin off my nose."

"Exactly. He apologized to you anyway. Did you ever apologize to Sunshine?"

"Not really. I should though."

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you not just ignore me after all of the things I did?"

"I don't really have an answer for that. You were kind of Dr. Jeckyl-Mr. Hyde on me. You'd be obnoxious and hurtful and then you'd ask me to sing a duet with you. I guess I always felt like we were kind of kindred spirits on the opposite end of everything along with Mercedes. We were like this diva triangle. You were isolated because you were so adamant that you deserved everything. Your dads spoiled you rotten, literally. You were the pinnacle of spoiled only child syndrome. You could do nothing wrong in your dads' eyes and that didn't actually serve you well in the long run. Mercedes was ostracized because she was black and was overweight. I was tormented because I was gay. We all knew what it was like to not fit in, although yours was by choice due the way that you treated everyone. Everyone in the group was talented, but we were the only three that really wanted to continue in the entertainment field. But instead of getting closer, you kept pushing us away by making so many demands of always getting the lead. There is literally no reason why Mercedes should have not gotten to be Maria. You know that she did a better job when they asked you both to come back and sing a second time."

Rachel nodded.

"We've talked about his before – last spring after you started seeing a new therapist. I'll tell you the same thing I said then. I was desperate to not be alone anymore. When Mr. Schue took over Glee Club, I had the hopes of being in a group of people who liked the same things I did, but you were really the only person who did – and Tina to some extent. But Mr. Schuester ruined what I thought would be my safe place by," he watched his words, "getting Finn to join. I liked Finn and if it had just been him, Glee would have stayed my safe place. But with him he brought Puck, and then Quinn, Santana, and Brittany, plus Mike and Matt. Without them, we would never have been able to compete. And I know you were the one to push Mr. Schue to find a more acceptable lead than me or Artie. Artie is a better singer than Finn, and, even in his wheelchair, he's a better dancer. But he doesn't fit your criteria for a leading man. You really need to check your prejudices. You want to be an actor, Rachel. Acting means pretending. You couldn't muster up the skills to kiss me in the Romeo and Juliet scene. That was a lack of skill on your part, not mine. Not every actor you play the lead with is going to be sexually attractive to you. You're going to have to get over that."

"I know. I've thought about a lot of the things you're bringing up. My therapist had me write out a list of people that I've slighted over the years because of my incessant need to be the star. She says that I've treated most of the people in my life like they're–"

Kurt interrupted her. "Like they're the cast of your own show."

"Yeah."

"I gave you another chance after we were in New York was because you had realized some of these things and you genuinely seemed to want to learn to be a better person."

"You're the reason I'm at NYADA. You turned down your spot and Madame Tibideaux offered it to me."

"Yes."

"Why did you do that?"

"Two reasons. One was financial and the other was that I really do love fashion. Your dads can afford the tuition at NYADA. My parents really can't. I still feel torn, to be honest, even more so now after being in _Into the Woods_ for the last three weeks. It's reignited my desire to perform. It was so much fun."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"Stay at FIT this semester, but I'm going to see if I can at least observe some of the higher level courses. Right now, other than my internship at _Vogue_ , it just feels like I go to any college and I enrolled in a fashion class as my elective for the semester. Maybe I need to look harder for some student groups to join. So far, I just feel like I haven't become part of the school. I haven't made any friends there. It's just not what I expected, but it's not bad in any way. And I've made friends at NYADA and at NYU, so I'm not unhappy. I'm taking a fashion-related class during winter term, starting tomorrow, so we'll see. Maybe I'll meet people with similar interests."

"NYADA doesn't have a winter term. We don't start back until a week from tomorrow."

"Why did you come back with us then?"

"I'm flying out tonight to meet my dads for a cruise. I only went to New Haven this weekend because of Noah and Sarah."

"Well, I hope you have fun."

"Me too. I mostly just plan to relax. I'll do the day trips when we pull into ports."

"If you see any cute fabric for Beth, buy a half-yard, or half-meter, of a few of them for me to make her sundresses for this summer."

"Sure."

"Sam sold his second house already," Kurt said. "I just remembered that I hadn't told you."

"That's great."

"It is. If he keeps it up, he'll be able to get his own place pretty soon."

"Is he going to build it himself?"

"He is. Well, he's going to hire the crew that he works with to do it with him. He's not going to just do it by himself." Kurt adjusted just a bit without waking Chandler up.

"He's out cold."

"Yeah, he can sleep anywhere. We have plans for when we get back tonight and he has to work early tomorrow morning before goes to class."

"You didn't say anything about the matching rings the two of you are wearing."

"That's because this weekend was about Noah and Sarah getting moved in and the two of them getting to spend time with Beth, not about me and Chandler."

"This is the skill I still lack. If I had gotten engaged, I would not have been able to keep it to myself all weekend."

"Something you should tell your therapist."

"Probably. I still haven't finished my 'people I've wronged' list and my written apologies to them yet."

"What are you supposed to do with the apologies you write?"

"I don't know yet. I think it's just for the practice of learning to admit my mistakes. Maybe afterwards, she'll suggest that I actually apologize. Or maybe we'll just talk about how I should respond differently now that I'm trying not to be so self-centered." She looked down at Chandler. "You really love him, don't you?"

"Yes."

"I was really wrong about you and Blaine. I really am sorry about that. I was so caught up in myself. I'm glad we're friends now, real friends, not like I used to be. I have something I want to tell you."

"Okay." He knew she was going to say something about Quinn, but he didn't want to jump the gun in case that wasn't what she wanted to talk about.

"I think I like Quinn in a way that goes past just friendship."

"Mmm hmm."

"She's just so beautiful and amazing. She's such a good mom to Beth."

"That's part of what's holding you back though, isn't it? That she has Beth."

"Yes, but in a weird way. It's not that I don't want to be around Beth. I don't want to date Quinn and us break up and then hurt Beth too. She's already had a rough start."

"I think it's something you should talk to your therapist about. It's a big commitment to date someone who already has a child. You struggle with not being the center of attention. When Quinn comes to the City to stay with you, you two are the center of whatever you do. It's her time to relax and have fun away from her responsibilities to Beth. If you progress past these friendship dates to them being romantic dates, and then further to something permanent, Beth will still be the center of her attention. You'd still have the time that Beth spends with Judy and Shelby to yourselves, but the rest of the time Beth would be there."

"I know. It's hard to have to think about those things before even beginning a relationship."

"Are you attracted to other girls? Or just Quinn?"

"There are other girls I find attractive, but honestly most of them look similar to Quinn."

"Well, maybe you're bisexual. What has Quinn said about it?"

"Nothing. I haven't told her. I didn't want to put pressure on our friendship since it's pretty new."

"I can understand that. I'm not sure that I'm the best person to ask for relationship advice, but in your position, I'd give yourself more time. She's going to be dealing with Noah moving to New Haven and the change in dynamic that will bring. I do think that you have to figure out whether her turning you down for something beyond friendship would affect your relationship. If you're only pursuing a closer friendship because you think it will lead to a relationship, that method didn't work with me and Finn."

Rachel smiled and laughed.

"I know, but the parallel is there. I tried to do things to become closer friends. I wasn't trying to be creepy. He's the one that felt like it was creepy, but he didn't have the nerve to tell me that he didn't want us to be good friends. I was young and naïve, but I think you have to ask yourself how you'll feel if you invest another three months into this friendship and then you confess your feelings and she says, 'No, thanks. I'm absolutely certain I'm straight'. Will you feel like the six months you put into become best friends with her was a waste of time or will you be able to accept her answer graciously and continue to be her best friend?"

"I'm not sure. More to think about. I better get moving towards the door. My stop is soon. I'm switching lines to head to the airport."

"You don't have luggage anywhere?"

"Just this bag I have with me. I have a couple of summer dresses, my bathing suit, and my walking sandals. There's laundry facilities on board and I'm just going to relax, like I said. I'm not trying to impress anyone." She stood up. "I'll be back Saturday when the dorms reopen. Oh, and my good news that I forgot to share is that my roommate is not going to be returning."

"I hope your new one is less annoying."

"Me too." She moved farther away and waved. "Bye!"

He waved back.

* * *

Kurt and Chandler got to the landing a half-flight below their apartment and as they made the turn, they looked up.

"Sebastian! Adrien!" Kurt exclaimed. "What are you two doing here?"

"That's not much of a greeting," Sebastian said, as he pretended to pout.

"You're right, it's not. I'm glad to see both of you. Now, what are you doing in New York?"

"Visiting our New York friends, obviously," Sebastian snarked back. "We've come to spend our last week of winter break with you. We promise not to be a bother. We'll cook and clean up after ourselves when you're not home. We know you have work and school."

Chandler unlocked the door and let everyone in and closed and locked it behind him. "Well, we're just dropping our stuff off and changing and heading down to Rockefeller Center to go ice skating. We opted not to go with Finn and Janine when they were here because Kurt was performing in the show and he didn't want to risk even minimal injury and not be able to perform."

"Sounds great," Adrien said. "We both like to skate."

"Perfect," Kurt said. "We'll be right back out. Make yourselves at home. You know where everything is. We're meeting a few other people and going out for dinner afterwards."

"Works for us," Sebastian said.

* * *

"It's really beautiful with everything lit up," Adrien said as the got close enough to see the area clearly.

"I agree," Kurt said. "This is one of the things that has been on my bucket list for ages. I'm really excited." He looked around, but couldn't see anyone they were supposed to me. He texted Adam and he put his hand up in the air and waved it around. "That way," Kurt pointed.

Adam, Callie, Lara, Kinzy, Brian, Carlen, Dahlia, and Veronica were all sitting down and putting skates on.

Kurt introduced Sebastian and Adrien to everyone before they went to get their skates. The four of them joined the rest of the group out on the ice after they got their skates on.

After about an hour of skating, they decided to move on to serenading the skaters. They sang Christmas carols even though it was long past Christmas. They ended with "Auld Lang Syne", as a septet. The Apples had learned for fun and added a lot of improvisation to their arrangement. The other five enjoyed listening to them.

Once they finished singing, they made their way to Callie's favorite Korean place that she had raved about to everyone all semester.

* * *

"So, you were great in Into the Woods," Adrien said when the four of them were walking from the subway to the apartment.

"What?" Kurt asked, thinking that he misheard him.

"We watched the show yesterday afternoon. You were really good."

"Why didn't you let me know you were there?"

"We tried, but we didn't have tickets for the event afterwards. And you didn't come out the front where we thought you would," Sebastian said. "We just got a hotel. It wasn't a big deal. We knew you'd come back at some point since you have class and work tomorrow."

Kurt just laughed. "I'm glad you liked the show."

Adrien said, "We went sightseeing and we went to see _Newsies_ this afternoon. That was fun too."

"We went last weekend," Chandler said. "It was Kurt's parents' Christmas gift to us. We loved it."

They talked about _Newsies_ the rest of the way back to the apartment. When they got inside Kurt stopped to get their mail and followed behind the other three. He found a single letter addressed to him from NYADA. He closed the door behind him and opened it.

_Mr. Kurt Hummel,_

_It is my pleasure to inform you that a private donor has offered to sponsor you. This scholarship will cover four years of tuition, plus a stipend for books and supplies, including music and dance attire._

_Please contact me at the Bursar's Office to accept or reject this offer. Per Madame Tibideaux's input, you may enroll this semester, this summer, or next fall._

_William DuPont  
Assistant Bursar_

"What is it, Kurt?" Chandler asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost." He moved closer.

Kurt handed him the letter and hung his coat on the back of the door.

"No wonder." He handed the letter back.

Kurt passed it to Sebastian, who held it so that Adrien could see it as well.

"A full scholarship. That's impressive," Sebastian said. "Are you going to accept?"

"I'd be crazy not to, wouldn't I?"

"I thought you had chosen fashion over performing," Adrien said, but I was confused after I saw you yesterday. You were amazingly good."

Kurt took the letter to his desk and laid it out and took a photo. He put the paper in his files with his original acceptance letters. "I don't know what to think. Who on earth would put up that much money for me to go to college? I'm certain that it's not my parents or Chandler's because neither of them have that kind of money."

Sebastian spoke up quickly. "I swear it wasn't me, Kurt. To be honest, if I were trying to do something sneaky like that, I'd pay for you to go to a school in Paris."

Kurt smiled. "I'd know that was you for sure since I didn't apply to any schools in Paris."

"I don't have that kind of money," Adrien said. "At least not at my disposal now. I'm not sure how much the tuition is, but I have an allowance deposited into my account monthly from the interest on my trust fund. And I'm certain that it's at least 100 times what I have in my account," he teased.

"I don't have any relatives with money," Kurt said. "Most of them don't even keep in contact with me, much less have any idea that I applied to NYADA."

Chandler moved between him and the desk and wrapped his arms around Kurt. "I think this will probably be one of those times where you're just going to have chalk it up to magic." He ran his fingers along Kurt's ear and showed him the silver dollar in his hand.

Kurt cackled. "You did your silver dollar behind the ear magic trick a ton of times and offered the money to NYADA for me?"

"It make as much sense as anything I've come up with," Sebastian said. "Just go with it. A magical scholarship. Don't drive yourself nuts trying to figure it out. It could be anyone. Someone you've never met, but who's heard you sing somehow."

Chandler agreed. "It could be anyone who saw you in _Pip, Pip Hooray_ or in one of the Apples performances, or even someone who saw you _in Into the Woods_ the last few weeks."

"You're all right. The more important question is whether I'm going to accept it."


	34. Chapter 34

Kurt still had Queenie in his arms, so Chandler pulled out the bed linens and put them on the sofa.

"I'm glad you came to surprise us. Chandler has to be up early for work tomorrow. The three of us can talk about what our schedules look like for this week and make some joint plans after he leaves and before I have to leave for class." He stopped abruptly, sat Queenie on his desk for a minute, and pulled his phone out quickly and sent Rachel a text.

-We haven't told our parents or anyone else yet. Please don't say anything to anyone.

-Okay. I have to turn my phone off. We're about to leave Miami.

He put his phone back in his pocket and picked Queenie back up and stroked her gently. "Sorry about that. Rachel's flying out to meet her dads to go on a cruise and I remembered something I needed to tell her."

"It's fine," Adrien said. "We'll get the sofa turned into a bed. Just get us up whenever you're ready to talk in the morning. I had to show my grandma a picture of you holding Queenie that I took to prove to her how big she is. She thought I was just exaggerating."

"She's my big, beautiful, sweet girl, aren't you, sweetheart?"

Sebastian smirked at Kurt and winked. "I think you still have something to tell us."

Chandler wrapped his arm around Kurt's waist and waited for him to be the one to answer since Kurt had never said whether he had accepted the ring as a promise ring or an engagement ring.

"Chandler and I are engaged."

Chandler had to restrain himself from jumping up and down. He couldn't wipe the grin off his face though.

"Congratulations," Sebastian said. "I saw the rings while you were reading the letter." He took Kurt's hand and looked at the ring.

Chandler showed his to Adrien.

"I like them," Adrien said. "Men don't typically wear engagement rings in France. Is this a common practice here?"

"It isn't," Chandler said. "Usually men don't wear a ring until they're married. But neither of us is a girl, and it seems kind of archaic to put a symbol on the woman letting society know that she is unavailable while leaving the man's finger empty, implying that he's available in a way."

Adrien said, "Our grandmothers have the watches they bought for our grandfathers after they got engaged. I'm not sure whether that's a traditional French thing to do or not. Or if maybe it used to be a long time ago. Getting engaged and married isn't as big of a deal in France, I don't think. Like everyone assumes that Sebastian and I are life partners. I think there is a feeling of permanence to being a couple in France that isn't implied by being a couple here. I'm not sure how to explain it. Sure, people cheat and people break up just like here, but living together is like the engagement here, I think. Sebastian and I lived together all summer on our own. I plan on being with him forever and we can actually get married in France now, so we should think about it and talk about it at some point after we graduate."

While Adrien was talking, Sebastian had wrapped his arms around him from behind and propped his chin on Adrien's shoulder. "Well, you're mine forever and I'm never letting you go, so we can have that talk whenever you want." He pecked him on the side of the neck. "I'm tired. I'm so out of shape. Lacrosse is going to kick my ass if I don't start working out when we get back to Dalton. Let's go to sleep. Or at least lay down and watch TV."

Adrien wrapped his arms up behind him and ruffled Sebastian's hair. "Good idea. I'll even massage whatever's hurting."

"Well, now I'll have to think of a list."

They all laughed.

"You know where everything is," Kurt said. "Help yourselves. I'll give you the spare key in the morning before I leave. We'll give you two ten minutes in the bathroom before we head in to shower before we go to sleep."

* * *

Kurt sat down on the end of the bed when they came back from showering. "I know it's late, but I'd like to text that photo we took of our hands to my parents and to Finn and Sam, if you're okay with it."

"I've been waiting on you to say something. Honestly, I had come to the conclusion that you didn't want to tell them since it's been not quite two weeks since I asked you."

"I'm so sorry. You were the one to ask me, so I was waiting for you to say that you wanted to tell your parents, and then I'd tell mine. We hadn't really been around any of our friends except for Noah, Rachel, Quinn, and Beth being here on New Year's Day for a while, but everyone was so focused on Noah and Beth that no one noticed the rings, but on the way back tonight, when you were sleeping in my lap, Rachel told me that she noticed them. School starts again tomorrow and everyone is back from winter break now or will be this week, so we'll start to see everyone again. I don't want to hide it, but I also don't want our acquaintances and friends to know before our families do. There are already three people who know, maybe four, if Rachel has already said anything to Quinn."

"I've just been waiting for you." Chandler grabbed his phone and sat down next to Kurt. "We can text them at the same time. After our parents, I'll text Janine and Marlene, and you can text Finn and Sam."

Kurt reached out for his hand. "I'm sorry I gave you the impression that I didn't want to tell anyone. I did and I do. I love you so much." He pulled the photo up and sent the texts.

Chandler did as well.

When their parents called back almost immediately, they put them on speaker so they could all hear each other.

"Yes, we're engaged," Chandler said.

Kurt added, "We haven't set a date and we're not actually actively planning a wedding yet."

Carole said, "I like your rings. They're really unique, like the two of you."

"Mmm hmm," Sharon said. "We're happy for the two of you. I only have one request, which is please don't elope. If you don't want a big wedding a lot of fuss, please just let us come."

Chandler smiled, "Of course, Mom. If we plan it any time soon, it will have to be here in New York since we can't get married in Ohio. But like Kurt said, we're not making any plans like that right now.

Burt spoke up, "Be careful wearing that when you're working. Those knots in the metal are going to be easy to catch on stuff."

"We both have necklaces to fasten them to when we can't wear them. I'll put it on that when I'm at work or performing."

"Good deal," Burt said.

James said, "We're happy for you two."

"We're happy too," Chandler said. "I have to work early in the morning, so we need to go, but we'll talk again soon."

They all said their goodbyes and disconnected. While they were talking, both Kurt and Chandler had missed congratulatory texts from Marlene, Janine, Finn, and Sam.

"I'm going to go turn the heat up for the night. It's pretty chilly out in the living room. Or I can offer them the little heater and we can huddle for warmth."

"Just let them have it and we'll cuddle up tight. Tomorrow, we can buy a second one. Then we won't have to keep moving this one around. We can keep the cord for the one in the living room out of the way when we're gone so Queenie won't play with it."

He looked back over his shoulder. "She's waiting for us to get in bed."

Kurt stood up and unplugged the heater and took it out to the living room. Sebastian and Adrien hadn't put the screen up yet, so they saw him coming.

"I brought you the portable heater. It gets pretty chill out here. We have more blankets in our room than we have for the sofa bed." He set it up in front of the closet.

"Thanks," Adrien said. "I was getting chilled. I was going to look up above the closet to see if there were more blankets."

"This little heater does wonders." Kurt turned it on. "See you in the morning." He went back into the bedroom and closed the door behind him.

* * *

As soon as Kurt got in bed, Chandler scooted towards him and wrapped his arms around him. "Scoot closer and let's get warm."

Kurt turned on his side and scooted up until they were able to wrap themselves around each other. He kissed Chandler several times in the process. A kiss on his shoulder, temple, forehead, cheek, and finally on the lips. "I love you. And you love me. And one day we'll get married."

"We've lived here six months as of today. Six amazing months. I love living with you and I want to do it forever." He slipped his hand up underneath the back of Kurt's shirt and held him close and caressed his skin with his thumbs. "What are you going to do about school? That's an amazing offer."

"It's insane. Who has that kind of money that would want to pay for my schooling?"

"I honestly don't know. We could try to figure it out or you can just chalk it up to an unexplainable event. The question is whether you really want to go to NYADA or whether you're happy with the choice that you made already."

"I'm ambivalent about the choice that I made because I'm still too early on in the program to be doing anything interesting, except my internship at _Vogue_. I'm leaving tomorrow morning as soon as I get a plan for tomorrow set with Sebastian and Adrien. I'm going to go talk to Madame Tibideaux and my advisor at FIT, and then consider my options. I'll try to come meet all of you for lunch, but I'll text you and let you know."

"M'kay. Let's sleep."

* * *

Kurt called Burt when he came up out of the subway after leaving Madame Tibideaux's office on his way to meet everyone for lunch.

Burt restated what he had understood from what Kurt told him. "So, you can go to NYADA starting next week at no cost to you."

"Right."

"Your first semester at FIT will still count towards the Associate's degree, which is all of the technical courses, plus a few academic classes."

"Yes."

"And then you can continue the degree at FIT in the summers and you'll finish summer before you start your last year at NYADA."

"Exactly."

"So, the Associate's degree is going to cost me half as much as the Bachelor's degree, but you won't be able to work in the summers that much because you'll be going to school every summer."

"Right."

"I can do that."

"Really?"

"If this is what you really want."

"It is. I've wanted to do both, but I didn't know how to make it work because one college degree is expensive enough, let alone two."

Burt laughed. "No kidding. I still don't understand the scholarship."

"Me neither, Dad, but Madame Tibideaux assured me that it's real."

"Good enough for me. I'll give you the money I had allotted for two more years of college to offset your living expenses since you can't work in the summers. You can just keep working part time like you are now during the summer."

"Thank you, Dad. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You're the best."

"I know. I have the mug to prove it," he chuckled.

"I have to cross the street now, so I'm going to hang up. I'll call you again maybe tonight or tomorrow once I get more things worked out."

"You do that. And definitely don't talk on the phone while you cross the street."

* * *

Kurt saw Sebastian and Adrien about a half-block down from him. He sped up to catch up with them and began to walk in tandem with them.

"Well, you look like the cat that got the cream," Sebastian said.

"I got more than cream. I got a fancy fish dinner. I'll tell you all about it once we get there. I already explained the whole thing to my dad. I'd rather explain it as few times as possible. Did you two have fun this morning?"

"We did. We went to FAO Schwarz to play the piano like we said we were going to and didn't have to wait long at all because most everyone is back in school and at work," Adrien said.

Sebastian continued, "And when we finished, we got back in line to do it again. We looked around the store for the rest of the time. It's just such a cool place."

"It is. We love going in there and just looking around. Sometimes I see things and I wish I had younger cousins that I could buy cute things for as gifts. Chandler bought Beth the absolutely cutest and softest sheep plushie I have ever seen there for Christmas."

The three of them crossed the street and had to walk single-file when they turned to walk north because there were so many people walking down the sidewalk. About halfway down the block, Kurt spotted Chandler walking towards them. It didn't take Chandler long to see Kurt and his face lit up. He hurried and when got close enough he threw his arms around Kurt's neck and held on tight. He kissed Kurt before he let him go. Sebastian and Adrien had stopped at the door to the Greek restaurant they had chosen, went inside, and waited for a table. Kurt took Chandler's hand and they followed the other two as they were being led to a table.

They looked over the menu and made their choices. Once the server had come and cone, Kurt began to tell what he had learned that morning.

"So, I'm going to do both."

"Well, you look quite satisfied with your choice," Sebastian said. "I know you struggled with choosing and now you can have both."

The server brought their food and they all started to eat. They ordered four different entrees and split them to try out new dishes.

"I have to go in tomorrow to meet with Cassie July to have my dance skills assessed," he sighed. I wish I had a few more days to work on some things, but I don't. I also have to go in and have my piano skills assessed. And my stage combat skills. I'm hoping to do well enough to be placed in the beginning level second semester or higher. I'm taking a French placement exam first thing in the morning. Anyway, once I finished all of those things, I'll be allowed to enroll for the spring semester. I'm not dropping my winter term course at FIT though. I've already paid for it and it's only three weeks. I'll just have extra work for the first two weeks at NYADA, but I'm going to try to work ahead this week, if I can, which should work because I didn't take any extra shifts because I wanted to relax, but I guess I'll do schoolwork instead."

Sebastian chuckled. "I'm fairly certain that you don't really know how to relax."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Oh! And we can still work on our plan to come to Paris. Chandler applied to the NYU overseas study program for this summer, but not the full program."

Chandler went on. "I applied to take a course at NYU Paris and was approved. I haven't enrolled or anything yet. We've been trying to get everything worked out."

"And there are two classes I can take in Paris that will count towards my degree at FIT. And we've both saved up enough for the plane tickets."

Sebastian's perked up. "Excellent. I was actually getting pretty bummed personally with all of your good news because I thought you were going to say that there was no way for you to come to Paris this summer."

"The only thing we haven't worked on yet is Queenie. We needed to ask you if she can come or if we're going to have to figure out how to take her back to Ohio for a month or find someone she likes to live in our place for a month."

"I don't have a problem with it," Adrien said. "And it's technically my place."

Chandler said, "We have to look up everything about cats on international flights before we decide. I don't want to leave her behind for a month, but I also don't want her in the cargo hold area for nine hours, two times in a month, well, actually ever."

"She can't ride with you?" Adrien asked.

Chandler said. "We really have no idea. We'll have to see what flights the best deal and look up the regulations. Research. We can also talk to Lara and Kinzy. They might want to stay in New York for a month this summer and spend the rest of their summer at home. Or Adam, if he's not going back to London right away."

"What did you two decide on for this afternoon?" Kurt asked.

Adrien answered, "The Houdini Museum and the M&M store on Broadway."

"What's your favorite color M&M? We'll bring you some." Sebastian said.

"I can't say that I've ever eaten enough of them or paid attention to the different colors to know," Kurt said.

"Maybe we can try them. We'll bring a mix of everything and we can have an M&M taste testing and ranking as our after-dinner activity for the evening."

Chandler laughed. "Sure. Why not?"

It didn't take long for them to polish off all of the food. They paid the server and split back up for the afternoon.

* * *

Chandler folded a paper towel into a bowl. Adrien sat and watched him carefully and made one with him the next time. A few minutes later, they had eight paper bowls ready to put the M&Ms in on their breakfast tray. They divided the M&Ms into eight groups.

Red, Dark Pink, Pink  
Orange, Dark Yellow, Yellow  
Dark Green, Green, Electric Green  
Teal, Aqua, Brown  
Dark Blue, Blue, Light Blue  
Maroon, Purple, Light Purple  
White, Pearl, Cream  
Black, Platinum, Silver

While they were doing that, Sebastian cut a piece of paper into four strips. He put the numbers 1-8 on each one at the top. He drew a line. Below that he wrote the numbers 1-4 and another line. And below that he wrote 1 and 2 and another line. When he finished, he checked the time and tossed the pasta into the water he had put on to boil beforehand. He set the timer on the stove and leaned against the counter and watched the other two finish dividing the M&Ms up. He picked the tray up and put it on top of the refrigerator.

The three of them set the table, poured drinks, and had ready when Kurt came in from work. He scrubbed his hands in the bathroom and sat down as soon as he came out. The discussed their plans for the next day. Once they finished eating, Kurt and Chandler put on headphones and worked on schoolwork while Adrien and Sebastian watched a movie.

They took a break after the movie ended. They popped the legs down on the breakfast tray and sat in a circle in the middle of the room around the tray.

Sebastian shared the rules he had made up. "We will try one of each color in each bowl. On your sheet, you have to write your pick between the three. We'll repeat this until we've tried all of the colors and we'll narrow it down."

About 20 minutes later, they compared their results. None of them had the exact same list.

Sebastian said, "Now, for round two, you have to compare them in pairs. 1 and 2, 3 and 4, etc. And write your answers on the sheet."

"This is hard," Chandler said. "I think I need some water." He got up and got all of them a glass of water.

The atmosphere was very quiet and focused, similar to a chemistry class where everyone was trying to determine the pH of different liquids.

Once they finished, they had a third round narrow it down to just two final choices.

"Alright, final round," Sebastian announced like it was Wimbledon. "Kurt has pink and white. Chandler has dark pink and purple. Adrien has brown and pearl. And I have pink and light purple."

They all tasted their top two choices.

"Kurt?"

"White."

"Chandler?"

"Purple."

"Adrien?"

"Brown."

"I chose light purple. Now, to test whether we can really tell the difference, we'll test each other. Kurt and Chandler will feed each other the one they chose as their favorite and a color they eliminated in the first round to see if the can tell them apart. Adrien and I will do the same thing."

They found that they were all able to do it.

Still using his announcer voice, Sebastian said, "Next up, for the toughest taste test yet. Can we distinguish between the two we chose as our favorites?"

Kurt couldn't restrain himself from chuckling. They had all been so serious and quiet up until that point.

"Mr. Hummel, you are distracting from the seriousness of the moment," Sebastian said, barely keeping a straight face.

Kurt nodded and steeled his face, as if being asked to distinguish the royal jewels from excellent forgeries. He closed his eyes and let Chandler put a white M&M in his mouth.

"White," he said.

"There will be five trials. I forgot to mention that part." He opened his mouth and let Adrien put an M&M in.

Ten minutes later, they conferred and compared their results.

"Well, we proved ourselves with 85% accuracy between the four of us," Sebastian said.

Kurt said, "Some of us, meaning me, brought that average up with my 100% score."

"Yes. That was next on my list of announcements." He changed his announcer voice to more of a game show host flare. "The winner of the M&M's Taste Challenge is our very own Kurt Hummel!" He began to clap enthusiastically.

The other two joined in raucously cheering and whooping.

Kurt bowed his head. "I'd like to thank… someone. But I can't think of anyone. Oh, yes. I'd like to thank the M&M company for their amazing contribution to making our game night so much fun."

Adrien asked, "What do you want to do with the leftovers?" He got up and picked the tray up.

Chandler said, "Let's just mix them together and divide them into four bags, and we can eat them later this week with a movie."

"Works for me," Adrien went to help him do it.

Kurt said, "That was fun, Sebastian. Ridiculous, but fun. Thanks."

"Anytime."

"I'm going to change into some sweats and do some stretches and go through the ballet positions. And some dance moves that don't involve jumping so I don't make the neighbors downstairs upset. I need to do something to feel more prepared for tomorrow."

"I'll join you."

A couple of minutes later, they were both back in the living room.

"You can drill me on French grammar," Kurt suggested. "Anything you've ever had to correct me for. I don't really have time to properly study for a test, but I'll review all of the irregular verbs on my way tomorrow morning."

"Is it an oral test?"

"Nope, just written. Why?"

"Because the only thing I can think of that I ever hear you mess up is _la liaison_ occasionally, but it doesn't interfere with being able to understand you."

"I don't mess it up if I'm reading something out loud, but you're right that I do when I'm just speaking."

"So do kids learning to speak French. I've seen toddlers argue. It's cute. Insisting that there is no 'z' sound between _les_ and _éléphants_. 'Tu vois les éléphants?' 'Non papa. Je vois le éléphants.'"

"I've heard 'goed' for 'went' and a toddler melt down crying in Walmart one afternoon, probably about an hour after he should have had a nap." Kurt imitated a toddler. "'We goed to the wibwawy. Now ticken nuggets.'" He switched to sounding like a mom trying to negotiate. "'We went to the post office and then to the library. Now, were at Walmart, and next we're getting chicken nuggets.'" He chuckled. "And then kid wailed." He switched back to the toddler voice. "We GOED to the wibwawy. Now ticken nuggets. No Wawmawt!'"

Sebastian laughed. "Can't blame the kid. Can't say that I'd want to go to Walmart when I was hungry either. Especially if I had already endured the line at the post office."

"Do French kids wonder why there are so many extra letters that never get pronounced?" Kurt teased.

"We all bitched about spelling class. In French and in English. At least French pronunciation makes sense. In English, 'through' and 'though' don't rhyme and 'thought' doesn't rhyme with either one of them. But 'do' and 'through' rhyme and 'go' and 'though' rhyme. Whoever decided on the way English is spelled is a sadist."

Kurt laughed, but took a deep breath and forced himself to stop. "No more being funny, I can't _plié_ and _rélevé_ while laughing.

* * *

Tuesday morning, Kurt sat in an office alone answering as many of the questions as he could on the French test. He didn't find it all that challenging and his nerves abated as he answered question after question. When the allotted time was up, the proctor took his test and let him know that the results would be available after lunch when he was due back to choose his courses.

* * *

"Well, Kurt, it's nice to see you this awful, foggy, dreary, and far-too-cold Tuesday morning," Cassie July said flatly as she came in the room.

"It's New York in January. I think the weather outside is probably written into some law somewhere."

She huffed. "Probably. Let's see if you can wow me."

He turned and offered her a grande peppermint coffee that he knew she loved that he had picked up between his French test and his appointment with her.

"You're definitely my new favorite student," she said as she took it from him. She took a sip. "Ooh, and it's perfect." She looked at the coffee cup, and then used her phone to take a picture of the coffee shop's name.

Kurt told her where it was.

"I've seen you dance. You're graceful, but I have no idea what you know. Let's start with your flexibility and move to the barre and jumps later."

"Yes, Miss July," he said obligingly.

She rolled her eyes. "You're as much of a smartass as I am. Let me see your best Gumby imitation. If I'm impressed, I might tell you how to get abs like mine, since you're such a fan."

* * *

"And you've never taken any type of martial arts lessons?"

"No, sir. I checked out videos from the library and learned what I could that way. I'm not sure where I could have even taken lessons where I grew up, but my dad could only afford one thing I and chose piano."

"Well, that was a good choice. And you learned a lot from the videos obviously. I won't keep you in suspense. I'm going to recommend that you be placed in the Intermediate Stage Combat course. I'll keep a close eye on you. If by three or four weeks in, you've show signs of struggling and not being able to keep up, I'll move you back to he beginner's class, but I really don't foresee that being an issue. If you pass this class with a B or better, you'll be given credit for the beginner's course."

"Thank you."

He nodded. "We don't have a specific dress code for the class. You might just come in sweats and a singlet and see how that feels. We'll work on fighting in costumes once you get to the advanced course."

"I'll do that. I'll see you next week." He grabbed his bag and headed for the locker room to shower and change.

* * *

They all met up for lunch again on Wednesday. This time Adrien had been the one to choose and they went to a place that served Haitian food. They ordered four entrées and shared like they had at the Greek restaurant. They all enjoyed their food, but focused on eating because there was a line of people waiting for tables. Afterwards, Kurt had to go into Vogue and talk to Isabelle. The other three accompanied him and the talked on the way there.

"So, I got 14 credits in French and my foreign language proficiency requirement is fulfilled, but at some point, I still want to take a French lit class. I'm taking Tap this semester and Beginning Ballet II since I have an opening because I took a science and math course last semester. And Intermediate Stage Combat I. A history class about theater, looking at the role of theater in history and how different eras viewed performance and how those views actually affected performing arts. It seems like it will be interesting. I've never really studied the interaction or thought a whole lot about it. Let's see. Voice I. I have to take Voice II second summer session to get back on track since I have to take it eight times. I have some others that everyone takes. And Intermediate Costume Design."

Chandler was smiling the whole time he was talking. He realized what had been missing – Kurt's enthusiasm. It had waned slowly over the course of the first semester. It came back when he got the role in _Into the Woods_ and now it had ramped up another notch. He squeezed Kurt's hand. "I'm glad to see you so excited."

Adrien said, "I think seeing you today proves that this is what you want more than maybe you even realize. I've never seen you this excited about school."

"You're right. I guess I just hadn't thought about it. School was school. I went. I listened and I did my work. I was learning interesting things, so it was just like school. But now I do feel a lot more excited about going to class next week. But enough about me. Have you already picked songs for Regionals?"

"We have it narrowed down to five songs. We're going to work on them when we get back and see which two or three will be the best."

Chandler said, "Don't forget to send me the link to that page you've been using to find cool place to see in the City. I definitely want to go to some of those libraries you were describing last night."

"Oh, you're right I forgot to send that." Adrien pulled his phone out and send it to Chandler. "There. No more forgetting."

"Thanks."

They had reached the doors of the Conde Nast building and Kurt said, "Wish me luck. She wanted to keep me as an intern instead of me switching to another company. But with me not being enrolled at FIT this semester, my time here may be up."

"We'll cross our fingers," Chandler said. He gave Kurt a quick kiss. "We'll see you tonight at dinner."

Kurt pulled the door open and steeled himself for let down, but tried to keep a positive attitude.

* * *

Saturday when Kurt came home from work, Chandler was waiting on the landing a half-flight down from their apartment. "We're hosting a party. It's a surprise for you, but Rachel doesn't want anyone to know that you didn't know about it."

Kurt looked completely confused.

"Just go with it and look like you're in on it. I'll explain more in a bit. Everyone's waiting for you to get home from work to start eating."

Kurt nodded. "Okay."

When they went in, he smiled and he put his coat in the bedroom and headed into the bathroom. Chandler managed to slip in with him. Once the door was shut, he kissed him sweetly and let him get started on scrubbing his hands. "Okay, the truth is that Rachel wanted to throw us an engagement party. She's been texting me all week while she was relaxing on the cruise. It seems that she relaxes about as well as you do."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I relax just fine as long as you're with me."

Chandler kissed him again. "No one but Rachel knows her ulterior motive. She wants us to announce our engagement and change our Facebook status. But she's not going to say anything. She doesn't want everyone to feel like she's lording her knowledge over them."

"This is a bit surreal, you know. It's like the anti-Rachel. Some reversed, mirror image. She's always wanted to lord her secret knowledge about anything over anyone that she could. And she's never been one to keep things to herself or to put anyone else's feelings ahead of her own."

"She told me that she wants to prove to you that she's changed and that she's actually your friend now – that she's Team Kurt. Her words. She told me that she still feels bad about how much she hurt you last year. But it's up to you. We can tell everyone while they're here and post the photo of our hands to our Facebook pages and change our relationship status or we can just go out and have a Back to School party."

"Let me think about it for a second. I'm going to jump in the shower really, really quickly. Can you go bring me some clothes to wear?"

"Sure."

Kurt was drying off by the time he came back. He dressed quickly and touched his hair up since he had been wearing one of Chandler's beanies earlier on his walk home from the subway. "It's fine with me if it's what you want to do. It's a fun idea actually."

"I thought you might want to announce your enrollment at NYADA as well."

"That too. How do I look?"

"Gorgeous, as always." Chandler smiled at him and winked. "Oh, and I like the outfit. I always thought that shirt would look good with those pants."

"Let's get out there before they think we're in here doing other things." Kurt grabbed the clothes he had been wearing and took them into their room and tossed them in the hamper. He looked at himself in the full-length mirror in their room and agreed with Chandler's assessment about the pants and the shirt.

* * *

Everyone had brought food and drinks to share and spread out around the living room and kitchen to eat. Everyone they spent time with outside of school was there, in addition to Quinn and Noah.

Rachel stood up and began to speak. "I'm pretty sure that Kurt hasn't seen this, so I want to show it to him and everyone else." She held up a page out of the New York Times. "One of the theater critics went to see the production of _Into the Woods_ that Kurt was in and wrote up a review. I'm not sure who saw it, but this page was taped to my door when I came back this morning." She handed it to Kurt.

He looked at it for a second and stopped at the writer's name. Albrecht Heinrichschreiber. "I recognize this name." He showed it to Sebastian. "He was the leader of the Warblers Council about 15 years ago, I think. Around 2000. I saw his name on something in the Warblers' trophy case and remember laughing to myself about how long it must have taken him to learn to spell his name in Kindergarten.

"I've seen the plaque you're talking about," Sebastian said.

Kurt read the review. His face flushed a bit reading it. "That's really… positive."

"I'd say," Rachel said. "Put it on your desk and people can read it if they want to."

"While I already have everyone's attention, I'd like to announce that I will be starting at NYADA on Monday."

Rachel squealed. She rushed him and hugged him. "This is the best news ever. You have to audition for the spring musical with me." She stepped back and smoothed her skirt down. "Sorry. You took me by surprise. I'm really excited."

"I would have never figured that out," he deadpanned.

While they had the attention of the room on them, Chandler took his phone out and posted the photo of their hands and changed his status to 'Engaged'. Kurt's phone pinged and he acknowledged the change in status and several people in the room reached for their phones.

Brian was the quickest because his phone was already in his hand. "Really?" he asked out loud.

Everyone else was a couple of seconds behind. Those who didn't have their phones on them, looked over to see what everyone else was looking at. Kurt and Chandler held their left hands up.

"It's true. Chandler and I are engaged. He asked me on Christmas. We haven't set a date, but whenever it is, you're all invited of course."

Rachel stepped closer and hugged him again. She spoke quietly where only he could hear. "You know I love you. The old me that thought I had to push everyone down to be the best, she's gone. The new me knows we can be the best we can be together. I brought sparking cider and juice and cute little fluted glasses to celebrate."

Chandler followed them into the kitchen and they distributed the drinks and had a toast before they broke into groups and played board games all afternoon.


	35. Chapter 35

Two weeks had passed since their impromptu engagement party. Kurt had survived his first two weeks at NYADA while completing the winter term at FIT. He left early that Saturday morning to go to work as usual. After he finished his shift, he and Chandler met to do their grocery shopping and brought everything home. They were in the middle of getting everything put away when Kurt's phone rang. He pulled it out, saw Sam's name, and immediately answered.

"Hey, Sam. What's up? Is it okay to put you on speaker?"

"Sure. You're not going to believe this."

Kurt guessed. "You sold another house."

"I did. It's amazing. But the more amazing thing is that I found this 2-bedroom place that needs TLC. It's structurally sound, but the heat doesn't work. I'm buying it. ME. A house!"

"That's great! I'm really excited for you."

"I'm going to have a energy efficient electric heat pump and A/C unit installed with new ductwork. It's got these gorgeous hardwood floors that just need refinished to look amazing. I want you two to come stay with me for spring break. I'm going to have it all fixed up by then. I'm going to work on it every evening and weekend, whenever I'm not at work or showing houses."

Kurt said, "I'll see what we can do. We hadn't actually made any plans except to go to Beth's birthday party the last Saturday."

"The place even has a separate dining room like I had hoped to find."

Chandler said, "That's perfect, but I thought you said that it would take you about a year to get your own place. It's only been about three months."

"Well, that was to save up and be able to outright pay for it. But with selling the third house, I had enough to put down a 25 percent down payment, and my mortgage is only going to be about $275 a month."

"No way. That's nothing," Kurt said.

"That's what I figured, which is why I went for it since it's exactly what I'd been looking for. With the sale I just made, after the down payment, I stillI have enough to cover the cost of the materials I need to fix the place up, the new heating and A/C system installed, and have all of the wiring upgraded, plus a year's worth of mortgage payments. I'm getting a mortgage with a pre-pay option, so every time I sell a house, I can put a big dent into the principal of the loan. I should be able to pay it off by the seventh house I sell. I'm going to pay the mortgage out of my construction paychecks and leave the year's worth of payments in savings in case I'm not bringing in any money at some point. I'm going to buy a nice bed first, and then I'm going to furnish the place over time."

Kurt was shocked. "Wow, is all I can say. That's just amazing. We'll work on how we can get there. I'll check airfare and flights. Send me before shots. I want to see your process of fixing it up."

"I'll email you photos. That way I can send a bunch at once."

"Why don't you get a Photobucket account or something like it? Then, you could post updates and only people with the password could view them. That would allow you to just upload them once and sort them in files and people who want to see can look."

"That actually sounds like a really good idea. I could use them to make a website later when I get into flipping houses."

"I'm so excited for you," Kurt said. "I'm so glad you've found something that you like to do."

"Me too. I've got to get back to work, though. We got rained out a couple of days this week, so I'm working today. I was on my lunch break. I'll text you later tonight." He ended the call.

"That's just, unbelievable. It kind of makes me just want to move to Tennessee," Chandler said. "I mean we could easily work jobs like we have now and live completely on our own with no help from our parents."

"It is appealing, but I wonder if we'd get harassed until we left. I've never gotten the impression that rural Tennessee would be any more gay-friendly than rural Ohio."

Chandler stepped closer and kissed him. "I guess we'll see in March, won't we?"

Kurt grabbed for him and pulled him close and kissed him again. "I guess we will." He looked around. "The refrigerated and frozen stuff is put away. I motion that we skip the rest until later because I've missed you with all the insane amount of extra schoolwork I had the last two weeks. I very much want to make out with my totally hot fiancé."

"Hmm," Chandler feigned reticence before slipping his hands down and pulling Kurt towards him so that there was no space between them. "What exactly did you have in mind?"

"Let's see. The order. We turn the little heater on, put Queenie on her throne on my desk, take a shower, head into our room, and lock the bedroom door. Beyond that, well, we just make it up as we go."

"Improv, I see. You know how much I love improv." He kissed down Kurt's neck as he spoke. "You turn the heater on and I'll put Queenie on her throne. I'll meet you in the shower."

* * *

A little more than two weeks after they had talked to Sam, on Monday Chandler got a text requesting that he do a show on Valentine's Day a few days later on Thursday. The person offered him twice his going rate to do it, which was nearly enough to cover the cost of what they had spent the plane tickets for spring break.

The weight of needing to give the person an answer weighed on him all afternoon. It hadn't been recently, but Kurt had told him how Valentine's Day had gone the year before and the year before that. His level for both complete gratitude and absolute loathing for Kurt's former boyfriend were equal due to the fact that he was thrilled to be with Kurt, whom he loved so much, but he hated how much his favorite person had been hurt the previous two years.

He had made plans to pamper Kurt all evening starting as soon as they both got home. He had made a mini-cheesecake and hidden it in the freezer when Kurt had been at work over the weekend. He had planned on them cooking dinner together and for afterwards, he had gotten a few tiny bottle of massage oils in different flavors for them to try out on each other. He had also bought a pack of kids' Valentine's Day cards that were all puns, as a throwback to the cheesy texts he had sent Kurt after they met.

When he got home from school, Kurt was sitting at his desk, deep in thought. He hung his coat up on the back of the door, took his boots off, and went into the living room.

Kurt looked up. "Hey, honey. What's wrong?" He scooted his chair back and patted his lap.

Chandler took him up on his offer and straddled Kurt's lap and sat down. Kurt spread his knees apart far enough that Chandler could sit on the front edge of the chair and prop his feet on the rungs by the back legs of the chair. Kurt wrapped his arms around Chandler's lower back and leaned forward to kiss him. Chandler met him halfway and wrapped his arms around Kurt as well. They kissed chastely, Kurt offering Chandler comfort kisses and affection until he was ready to talk as he usually did when Chandler seemed upset.

"So Thursday is going to be our first Valentine's Day together."

"Umm hmm."

"Someone wants me to do a magic show that night at 7:00."

"Okay." He kissed Chandler softly again.

"Okay?"

"It's not like you're going to be gone all evening. We both have classes that day. We didn't plan on skipping everything to stay home and make out and have sex all day."

"Sounds like a grand plan for some day soon though," he pressed in and kissed Kurt more passionately.

"I agree. Are you worried that I'll be disappointed based on things I've told you?"

Chandler nodded.

"I don't want you to feel pressured, honey. I know that you love me. I don't have any doubts whatsoever. None." Kurt kissed him again. "Every day is Valentine's Day with you. You're kind and caring, gentle and loving, and always so sweet to me. Whether we stay in or we go out and you're always physically affectionate, no matter who's around. Little things, like putting your hand on my shoulder or touching my wrist or hand. You never make me wonder if I'm special to you. Although, if you were planning some kind of chocolate fest, we could move that to Friday. We could get half-price chocolates and stay in all evening. We could set our phones to silent and not answer the door if anyone comes by. Just me and you, and Queenie of course, but she can do her own thing. We'll get her salmon for dinner."

"You're sure?"

"Honey, look at me. Going to Tennessee was an unplanned expense in our budget. I know you dipped into your Paris fund to pay for your ticket. You making that much would recover the ticket money and leave some left to do some fun things while we're there. You being gone for two hours doesn't mean we can't still have a nice dinner together when you get back. I was going to make you dinner anyway. You haven't gotten many requests since New Year's. I think it's the perfect way to get the extra money you need for spring break. There's no guarantee that anyone else will try to book you in the next month. I think it's a good financial decision. And it doesn't make you any less romantic." He kissed Chandler again.

"Let me text the person back and tell them I'll do it." He put his feet down, stood up, and pulled his phone out to send the affirmative text. He laid his phone on Kurt's desk and sat back down like he was before. "All those things you said about me – those are true about you too. You always make me feel loved too. The instant I touch you, I can feel you relax. It makes me feel–" He squirmed a little to get more comfortable and pursed his lips. "–like there's this magic that only I have. Like I'm the only one who makes you feel relaxed and… comforted, which sounds weird, but I can't think of another word right now."

"It's true. I only relax when it's you touching me. And it is comforting. I do hug other people more than I used to, and honestly I don't tense up when Sam hugs me, but it's still not like when you hug me. I just feel like all of the tension drains out of me when you touch me."

"I like laying on you and leaning back on you too. You always make me feel really cherished and loved too."

"Well, I think we can have a magical Valentine's Day, even if you go wow some people with your magic tricks."

Chandler's phone vibrated with a text. He turned to pick it up, read it, and out it back down. "Ooh… " He turned back to Kurt and leaned in, kissing up his neck. "I can bring a Plus One to this event. Will you be my date?"

"Of course. Oh, God that feels good."

"That's the point," he teased as he licked along the edge of Kurt's earlobe. "It's a swanky dinner event, so you even get to dress up."

"Mmm hmm." Kurt could barely think with Chandler kissing and licking along his ear. He untucked Chandler's shirt and slipped his hands up and ran his fingers along the smooth skin. "If you keep that up…"

"Hmm? If I keep it up?"

"Something else will be up and not interested in reading the assignment on my desk."

"Surely, you could use a break by now?" Chandler kissed along Kurt's jaw.

"Yes."

Chandler laughed softly against Kurt's jaw and made his way to his lips. "You started this you know. Inviting me to sit in your lap always ends this way." He pressed in and they kissed until they had to stop to take a breath.

"Mmm hmm. I love it when you sit in my lap like this." Kurt started to unbutton Chandler's shirt.

"Let's take this to the bedroom instead of giving the people across the street a show."

"Lead the way. You're the one on my lap."

Chandler rolled his hips. "I like it on your lap, but I'll sit on your lap in the bed." He stood up and held his hands out. "Come on."

He followed Chandler to their room. "Aren't you hosting your drama class project group here tonight?"

"Not for an hour."

"An hour it is then." He closed the door and resumed his previous task of unbuttoning Chandler's shirt.

* * *

The night before Valentine's Day, Chandler encouraged Kurt to do the long version of his skin care routine since they were going to the fancy Valentine's Day dinner the following evening. While Kurt was busy, he put one of each of the pun-based Valentine's cards into Kurt's bag in various places, inside a book as a bookmark, fastened to his keychain, in his wallet – everywhere he could manage to get one to stay. He also put one of Kurt's favorite chocolate bars in the zippered pouch where Kurt kept his pencils and pens. He also put one Kurt's favorite no calorie electrolyte drinks in the bag with one of the little cards taped over the regular label. He put Kurt's bag back and got in bed before he came out of the bathroom.

* * *

The next day, Chandler met up with the girl who answered his wanted ad and they switched "bouquets" and delivered them to the opposite partner. Kurt was shocked when a gift bag of fresh fruit and his favorite flavors of Lara Bars were delivered right before his rehearsal for the spring play. The huge smile on his face didn't disappear the entire hour. Chandler was pleased to see how happy the girl was that he had delivered a candy bar bouquet to.

* * *

"Is that from your sweetie?" Rachel asked.

"It most certainly is." He glowed with excitement.

"As if putting how many ever kiddie pun Valentine's Day cards in everything in your bag wasn't enough of a statement?"

"I lost track, but you can never have too many punny Valentine's Day cards. And the snacks arrived at the perfect time." He offered her a banana Lara Bar because he knew that she loved them.

"Those are yours," she said.

"Which makes them mine to do with as I see fit. Have one."

She took it. "Thanks." She opened it and took a bite. "It's so weird. A year ago it was me with the engagement ring. And I honestly couldn't be happier that I didn't go through with that. Finn's a great guy and I loved him for a long time, but I saw him with Janine. She gets him in a way that I never did. His absolute acceptance of living in Lima and just doing regular things for the rest of his life just never made any sense to me. I couldn't figure out how he could live his life without some big plan for it. How do you get up every day and go through the day without using your big plans for your life to guide each step of your day and keep you focused? I'm not expecting you to answer that."

"I talked to Sam the other day. He sold another house and he's buying one of his own and he's going to fix it up. He's happy, Rachel. He does regular things every day. He goes to work and now he'll be going to his house and fixing it up every evening and all weekend until he gets it done. No big huge plan for his life. He's going to keep working construction and as a real estate agent until he pays his house off and then he wants to try to flip houses and sell them at affordable prices. He doesn't want to be famous or solve world hunger. He just wants to live his life. He's found something he likes to do and he's doing it."

"I'm glad for him."

"Can I give you some unsolicited advice?"

"Sure, as long as you realize that I'm unlikely to follow it," she teased.

"I know. But listen anyway. I do still want to be on Broadway. And I want to design clothes and maybe costumes, but it's not all I think about every day of my life now. Now, that I have real friends, I'm not so hell-bent on getting accolades as a form of acceptance. I've realized that part of what drove me to consider performing was that I got to be the center of attention in a good way. I could get out on stage and act and sing my heart out, and everyone would applaud. It would be validating."

She nodded.

"Of course, I'd still like for people to enjoy watching me perform, but now I can do it for myself. I don't need validation from people I don't know because that's the only way I ever get it. Now, I have people in my life, who want me to be part of their lives, who actively choose to spend time with me. If I go out on stage and forget my lines, I will be upset with myself, yes, but I won't hate myself like I would have before. You've changed. I'm not sure if you realize how much, but you've really become a much nicer person. You have real friends now too. Neither one of us are alone now. Even when we were dating Finn and Blaine, we were still alone. Finn didn't get you anymore than you got him. He accepted you and loved you, but he didn't get your drive and passion. But I think you can find someone who will. And until then, you have a group of people who will support you and still be your friend even if you get up on stage and forget your lines."

"Bite your tongue," she teased. "That is so NOT going to happen."

He smiled and winked at her. "Of course not."

"What did you do for Mr. Punny Romantic?"

"It's personal."

"Ooh. Now, I'm even more intrigued."

"Well, you won't get anything out of me."

She rolled her eyes. "That's no fun."

He shrugged. He looked to his right, over her shoulder. "Professor Mattingly's here."

* * *

That afternoon, Kurt got home from class before Chandler did and he put the deep red lace outfit that he had made for himself as his gift to Chandler. When he came in from class, he hung his coat up, took his boots off, and went to look for Kurt, who he found sitting in the corner of the sectional with his legs stretched out reading a book.

"Oh, my God, Kurt. That outfit." He moved closer and saw that the both the pants had buttons all the way up them, as did the sides of the shirt. He reached out and ran his fingers along the lace sleeve and shivered. "This is exquisite. This is the hottest outfit I have ever seen." He ran his fingers down the lace pants. "You are the sexiest man ever wearing the hottest outfit ever. You made this specifically for me, didn't you."

"I did." He handed the book he was reading to Chandler.

He put it on Kurt's desk without taking his eyes off of Kurt. "I'm torn between wanting to look at you wearing that and wanting to slowly unbutton every button and kiss you everywhere while I take the outfit off of you."

Kurt didn't say anything, but he was thrilled that the outfit had the exact effect on Chandler that he had hoped for. So many times Chandler had said that I was unfair that only women's lingerie came in gorgeous lace. "Your choice. I'm all yours. I loved all of your Valentine's Day surprises for me. They were all very sweet."

"I'm glad you liked them." He moved closer again and knelt facing Kurt and ran his fingers down the lace pants again. "This lace is fantastic. It's soft, but still just rough enough to be a huge turn on." He slipped his fingers into one of the openings between the buttons running down the length of the pants. "Using loops for button holes creates these enticing gaps between the buttons." He caressed Kurt's leg through the gap.

"Mmm hmm." Kurt did his best not to squirm, even though it tickled. "Feel free to explore the outfit to your heart's desire. Or take it off, if you'd rather."

"I'm going to do both, but first the exploring."

* * *

They flew into Knoxville and Sam was there waiting for them. He had opted to upload the after photos, but keep them locked until after Kurt and Chandler came to visit. He wanted to have a fun "reveal" like on the house flipping or renovation shows on TV. They pulled up out front. Sam pulled up the before photos on his phone so they could compare as they went inside.

"This porch is amazing," Kurt said.

"Yeah, I'm going to get two swings at some point." He unlocked the door and let the two of them in first.

"Oh, my," Chandler said excitedly. "This is like a brand new house. It's like night and day difference." He started to look around.

"It's beautiful, Sam. The floors are amazing like you said they would be. And I love the really love all of the solid wood trim." He looked around as well. "You put up stained crown molding. It looks great with the 9-foot ceilings. The room isn't that big, but the higher ceilings make it feel bigger."

"I think so too. I like that I can stretch up and not hit my hands on the ceiling. I'm sorry we don't have anywhere to sit except the kitchen chairs. I found this amazing solid wood table with the fold-down sides at a yard sale a couple of weeks ago. It didn't even need any work done on it. It reminded me of yours with it not taking up much space with the sides down. It's obviously oval instead of rectangular like yours. But it had four chairs with it and I only paid $50 for it, so I'm thrilled."

Kurt said, "That was definitely a bargain. We paid quite a bit more for ours and we just bought the table. We needed something very specific though since we didn't want to put the table in the living room because we wanted the big sectional so we could use it in its bed form for guests."

"That's my other thing to apologize for. I only have an air mattress."

"We'll be fine. It's not like we're going to be sleeping on it for a month or something. A few days will be fine."

"On the upside, the closet is completely available," he teased.

They finished looking around and unpacked what little they had brought before they took off for their day of second-hand shop visits. Kurt had scoured the area for places and had made an itinerary.

* * *

They made it to Gatlinburg Sunday morning before dawn and watched the sunrise. They drove through Cade's Cove afterwards. They spent the day wandering through shops. Kurt ended up with a black bear cub brooch and Chandler found a navy blue belt just the color of his Docs.

Sam looked a wooden guitar stand that he loved that was both a stool the right height for him to sit on while playing and a guitar stand. The seat had a tapered section at the back with a cut out for the guitar to lean into. At the bottom of the back, there was a ledge for the guitar to sit on. It was shaped so that the stool could sit in a corner with the guitar facing the room. It had a sturdy support running across the lower front to prop his foot on while he played.

He nearly balked at the price, but Kurt talked about how the same thing happened when people would ask him how much a custom outfit would cost. They'd balk at the price because they didn't truly understand the cost of the materials or the length of time it took to make items. He looked it over carefully and decided that he really did love the design and the workmanship was top quality. He bought it.

They had dinner at one of the restaurants in Gatlinburg. Since it was too early in the season to drive all the way to the top, they drove up to the first area where they could park and watched the sunset from there. They headed back down before it got completely dark.

On Monday, the three of them worked on a bedroom suite they had picked up Saturday. They sanded it down and resealed it with a clear varnish. Sam was pleased with the final results.

Tuesday morning, Kurt scoured the Craigslist ads while Chandler and Sam made breakfast. He found two ads with living room furniture listed that looked to be in decent shape. After they ate, they went to look. Sam ended up buying the sofa and love seat from the first ad and the wood credenza and two side tables that were bookcases from the second.

They stopped on the way back for Kurt and Chandler to run in Target. They bought a 3-light floor lamp that would look good with what they had in the truck. They grabbed two 15-watt bulbs for the two smaller glass shades and a 150-watt 3-way bulb for the large shade that faced upwards to light up the whole room since the room didn't have a ceiling light. After they got everything cleaned and arranged the way Sam wanted them, he took "after" pictures of his bedroom and the living room.

Later that afternoon after they had everything in place, they had an early dinner with the full Evans clan before they headed back to New York.

* * *

Other than working, they spent the next three days relaxing, including a trip to the taquería on Wednesday with Queenie and Adam. It was their thank you for Adam staying at their place while they were gone. He insisted that they didn't owe him anything because he was the one that needed a place to stay. After lunch, he headed out to spend the rest of spring break at Callie's place since she was heading out of town and was also in need of a catsitter.

* * *

Saturday morning, they got up early, ate as they walked to the train, and studied their lines on the 3-hour ride to New Haven. When they got there, Rachel was waiting to pick them up in Quinn's car. She drove them back to Quinn's place. When they got there, Quinn was giving Beth a snack.

Beth looked up when they came in. "Unca Kuht! Unca Chan! I'm fwee."

"I know," Kurt said. "That's what we came to celebrate."

"Buhfday pawty today!" she said excitedly. "And da beach."

Quinn added. "Yes, we're going to the beach because that's what you wanted to do, but remember that the water is still too cold to walk in."

"I wememebuh. Too cowd. I wanna go see it."

"We will. After your party," Quinn assured her. "We're going to the library as soon as you finish eating that banana and peanut butter."

"Wibawy. Yay!" She ate the last two pieces quickly. "Aw done." She held her hands out to have them wiped.

Quinn looked at her and laughed. "Nope. No way a wet wipe will fix that, Little Missy. You're going to have to use soap and water to get that sticky mess off." She picked her up and put her down so she wouldn't smear peanut butter everywhere.

Beth laughed. "Soap and watuh. Bafwoom." She walked off with her hands out in front and went down to the bathroom. "Mommy?" she called out.

"Yeah?"

"I can't tuwn da watuh on."

Rachel said, "I'll help her while you clean the table."

"You'w not mommy," Beth teased. "You'w Wach."

"I am Rachel and you're Beth, and I'm going to turn the water on for you because your mommy is cleaning up the table.

"Okay."

* * *

While Quinn took Beth to toddler story and art time to get her out of the house, Kurt, Chandler, and Rachel decorated for the party. Judy pulled up at 12:30 with Santana and Brittany, who were planning to spend half of their spring break in New Haven and had invited themselves to spend the second half in New York with Kurt and Chandler. Judy stayed behind at Quinn's and let Kurt drive everyone to Puck's to wait the hour until it was time for the friends and family party.

Quinn had invited the other five toddlers in Beth's group at daycare to come over for ice cream sundaes and a short party at 1:00. Five moms and their toddlers descended upon Quinn's place and there was chaos for 45 minutes. By 2:00, everyone had left.

Everyone converged at the house, including Shelby, and waited until they saw the last of the toddlers leave before they went inside. Noah had stopped and picked up all of the Chinese food everyone had chipped into pay for. Kurt and Chandler helped carry it all in.

When Beth saw the bags, she asked, "Daddy got me da chicken and wice?"

"Yes, Daddy got you the chicken and rice you love. And we got stuff for everyone else too," Noah responded.

"Yay! My fweinds fwom school went home."

"Did you have fun when they were here?" Noah asked.

"Yes! Wots of fun. We ate ice cweam wif fwuit on it. I had swawbewies!"

"Sounds yummy. I know you love strawberries."

"I do! Can I go fuhst?"

"Of course, you can. It's your birthday party."

The rest of them started filtering in a couple at a time, to give Beth a chance to get comfortable with so many people that she didn't see all that often, plus Santana and Brittany, who she had only ever seen on Skype.

She noticed the two of them come in together. "Santana and Bwitty aw hewe!" She pointed at them with a shocked and amazed look on her face.

"We are," Santana said, cheerfully. "We wouldn't miss your birthday party."

Everyone put their gifts in a stack on the floor by the sofa and got in line to serve themselves. While Noah had been talking to Beth, and Kurt and Chandler had set the food up, Judy and Sarah had brought in two folding tables and chairs and set them up so everyone could sit down to eat.

When they finished eating, they divided up and cleaned up, put away the leftovers, and folded up the tables, but moved the chairs around in the living room to make a circle for everyone to sit when they came back from the beach.

Before they left, Kurt and Chandler took Beth aside to her room. "We want to give our present before we go, okay?"

"Mmm hmm." She took the box and sat down and ripped the paper off the box. "Ducky boots! I wuv dem. Can I put dem on?"

"Yes," Kurt said. "But open the other box first."

She ripped the paper off of it and pulled out a duck rain slicker. "A ducky coat. I wuv it too. Can I put it on?"

Kurt nodded. "Let's get a sweater to wear underneath it since it's still a little chilly for just this jacket. And put some leggings on too."

She went to her dresser, pulled open one the drawers, and grabbed a pair. "Hewp me?"

Chandler helped her into the leggings and then helped her step into the adorable yellow and white polka dot wellies that had a duck bill on top and toes and eyes near the ankles. Kurt found a sweater in her closet and put it on her and put the matching yellow and white polka dot raincoat over the top and pulled the hood that had the same style duck bill and eyes on it as the boots. He ushered her out into the living room.

"Oh, my! How adorable is that?" Judy said when she saw her.

"Wook! I got a ducky coat and boots!" She paraded around the room for everyone to see.

She got a lot of praise and enthusiastic responses.

"Let's go to the beach," Quinn said.

Everyone split up amongst the vehicles for the drive out. Kurt and Chandler hopped into the back of Quinn's car and Rachel rode up front. They sang songs all the way to the beach. Even though it was a bit chilly, it was sunny and beautiful. They walked along the surf and Beth managed to convince Quinn that she could walk in the water a little bit because her ducky boots would keep her feet dry. She found a couple of shells that she insisted on keeping. Noah rinsed them of in the water and Quinn wiped them down with a wet wipe and Beth put them in her pocket.

They stopped by a park on the way home and Beth insisted that Sarah swing with her while Noah pushed her. Once they got back, she opened the rest of her gifts. Shelby bought a toddler-sized table and chairs. Judy bought her a toy kitchen. Everyone else had brought the accessories for it. She was thrilled.

Quinn brought out a cake and put three candles on it for her. Everyone sang and she blew them out. After everyone had eaten their fill of cake, Judy stayed behind for Beth to take her nap, which gave all of the older teens a chance to spend some time together. Shelby drove back to the City. One of Sarah's new friends lived down the street and she went there to spend the evening and night.

* * *

Since they had eaten a late lunch, they weren't hungry by the time the sun was setting. They were sitting around Noah's living room debating what to do.

"We could watch a movie," Rachel suggested.

"Nah," Santana disagreed. "Let's play Truth or Dare."

"We're not in high school anymore, Santana," Kurt said.

"We play this at parties in college," Brittany said. "That and Never Have I Ever. But I always get way too drunk playing that game."

Santana said, "I'll start." She looked around the room. "Kurt."

"Truth." He hoped that by going first, he'd get an easy, not too nosy question.

"Who was the first guy you had a crush on?"

"Honestly, Dave and Puck probably tied."

Noah looked shocked. "Me? Really?"

"You and Dave were the first two in our grade to start looking attractive. You went through puberty earlier. Having a crush on someone that looked like a child just, no."

Brittany asked, "Why did you change to having a crush on Finn later?"

"This should count for three truth turns for me."

Santana rolled her eyes. "Just answer her."

"Because Puck and Dave started bullying me and even though Finn didn't make them stop, he did keep Puck from tossing my designer bag and coat into the dumpster with me. That's seriously all it took to become my knight in shining armor."

"Lame," Santana said.

"That's true," Kurt agreed. "I had high hopes that Sam was gay, but that didn't pan out. And then I met Blaine and we all know how that went." He moved on quickly.  
"Next! Noah."

"Dare."

"I dare you to show us how many pushups you can do." When he got to 75, Kurt said, "Stop. That's good enough."

He got up and got a drink. "Santana."

"Truth."

Kurt was shocked. He figured she'd take a dare any day over truth. Then again, it was Noah.

"How many girls have you slept with?"

"One." She looked around the circle. "Rachel."

"Um, dare?" she answered with trepidation. Clearly by the look on her face, she didn't know which was worse.

"I dare you to kiss the prettiest girl in the room."

Rachel did a double-take. "Wait, what?"

"A dare's a dare."

"What if she doesn't want to be kissed?" Rachel asked.

"That's not how this works. If it's me or Britt, we won't count it as cheating. It's a game."

Rachel crawled across the circle and knelt in front of Quinn. "I won't force you. I'll take whatever Santana's punishment is for chickening out."

"It's fine, Rachel. It's a game." She leaned forward to make it easier on Rachel.

Rachel pushed up on to her knees slightly and put her hands on Quinn's shoulders gently and leaned forward and kissed her. She pulled back and looked Quinn in the eyes briefly before she moved back to her spot.

"Oh, my God, Rachel," Santana said, "I didn't think you'd do it. So, what do you think about kissing girls?"

"Um, they have softer lips than boys," she said, unable to hide her slight blush. "Chandler."

"Truth."

Rachel paused to think up a question. "Um, how many boys have you kissed?"

"One."

"No way. You've only kissed Kurt?" Santana said. "What if he's a terrible kisser? You'd never know."

Brittany piped up in Kurt's defense. "Kurt's the best boy kisser ever. Chandler's got nothing to worry about."

Kurt's face flushed.

He was saved by the doorbell ringing.

With the arrival of the pizzas, they let the game go and put in a movie like Rachel had suggested to start with. Once _Legally Blonde_ was over, the four girls headed back to Quinn's place for the night. Kurt and Chandler took Sarah's room for the night.

The next morning, after a breakfast of cold pizza, Noah dropped Kurt and Chandler off at the train station because Chandler had to work that afternoon.


	36. Chapter 36

Sunday evening when they were packing up the leftovers from dinner to take for lunch Monday, Sebastian called. Kurt put him on speaker.

"We won yesterday! We won! We're going to Nationals!"

"You're not excited about that, at all. I can tell," Kurt deadpanned.

"An a cappella group has never made it to Nationals before. Los Angeles here we come. Adrien and I have never been there."

"I'm really happy for you all," Kurt said. "McKinley's not up until next Saturday. I think it's cool that you got split up to go to different Regionals. They're going to Fort Wayne to compete."

Adrian said, "We were glad we didn't have to compete against them again. We know we won't win Nationals, so the pressure to be perfect is off, but we still want to be the best we can – for ourselves."

"Get someone to record it, so we can watch it," Kurt said.

"We will," Sebastian replied. "We have to get going. We're working on planning right now so we can present the ideas for things to do in LA tomorrow. We need to get rooms and tickets to wherever we want to go in advance. We just wanted to let you know."

"Congratulations!" Kurt and Chandler said at the same time.

* * *

The first three days after spring break were tech days and dress rehearsal for the productions at NYADA and at NYU. Kurt and Chandler barely saw each other between work, school, and rehearsals.

Thursday evening was opening night for both productions. Fortunately, NYADA's production of _Grease_ ran Thursday, Friday, Saturday afternoon, and Saturday evening while NYU's freshman presentation of _Clue_ ran Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoon. This allowed Kurt and their friends from NYADA went to watch the NYU matinee production on Sunday and Chandler and their NYU friends went to watch the NYADA Saturday matinee.

Burt, Carole, Marlene, and Zach rented a SUV and drove from DC. They picked Sharon and James up when their flight landed Saturday morning. They were able to see both shows on Saturday. They stayed in New York on Sunday before heading back home.

* * *

Saturday evening, Finn called and he was way more excited than Sebastian had been the week before. "Dude, we're going to Nationals! We won!

"That's great, Finn. Obviously, you managed to get a staff sponsor."

"I convinced Coach Beiste. I explained to her that she didn't have to know anything about music. I just needed her to sign all of the forms as the official staff sponsor. Miss Pillsbury is willing to go as our second chaperone when we go to LA, like she did today. I can tell that it's hard on her though, being in the Glee Club room."

"I'm sure it is."

"No. I mean really hard. The inquiry and hearing or whatever ended the beginning of the week. Schue's administrative leave for the first half of the semester has been resent."

"Rescinded."

"Rescinded. Whatever. It was pending investigation, which ended with him being fired. She took it really hard because she was the one who filed the paperwork. She broke it off with him. She just told me this stuff the beginning of the week. And yes, she told me I could tell you. Everyone else here already knows that he was fired. I've just been too busy with rehearsals and homework to call this week. He's not going to jail or anything because there's no proof whether it was actually pot."

"I knew you had gone in and were questioned. It's a sad ending. For both of them."

"Yeah, she's heartbroken still. I think she'll leave McKinley at the end of the semester. Sue has already determined that if we don't win Nationals again this year, that she's disbanding the club permanently, saying that too much money is being spent on something that only benefits a small number of students. She wants to turn the room into a high-tech computer lab. We're using the money we won last year to pay to fly to LA. Chandler said North Lima doesn't have a Glee Club. I think I'll go there and see if I might be able get one started. It's worth a shot anyway."

"That's a good idea. I think that Sue might have a point about the computer lab. But that doesn't mean that Glee Club couldn't practice in the dance studio since the school doesn't offer dance as a class during the school day anymore. She might also relent about getting rid of Glee Club now that she won't have to deal with Mr. Schue."

"That's true. I'm still going to look into North Lima though. Oh, he got his Teacher of the Year award taken away. And after everything was looked into, Sue is suing him for the money that the school will be fined for not providing additional chaperones to New York two years ago."

"Ouch," Kurt said. "I hadn't thought about that, but it's true."

"I've got homework to do and Janine's almost done making dinner. I gotta go."

"Well, congratulations again!"

"Thanks, dude. See ya!"

* * *

Kurt woke up Monday morning and snuggled up tight behind Chandler. He kissed the back of his neck. "Happy Anniversary. I love you so much."

"Mmm. I love you too. That's a nice way to wake up. One of my favorites."

"Mine too. It's been a crazy couple of weeks."

"It has. But you were an absolutely amazing Kenickie. And I'm glad we were both able watch each other perform."

"Me too. And you were a fantastic Mr. Green."

"But now it's back to the regular daily grind."

"The after-production letdown. But not for us."

"Oh, really? Why's that?"

"Because I have arranged for you to play hooky this morning. Brian is going to your English class and taking the most impressive notes you'll ever see. And he's in your history class, so you get his notes from that as well. And Rachel is taking notes for me in our history class, and someone in my other class is too. So, we do not have to go to class until after lunch."

"I'm being kidnapped? Sounds exciting." He pushed back and flopped over to face Kurt. "Are you going to tie me to the bed?"

"Do you want me to?"

"It might be fun for, like, two minutes, now that I think about it. I'm not sure how long I would be able to stand not being able to touch you."

Kurt smiled and started kissing the side of his neck. "You can think about it, but it wasn't on my list, which consisted of kissing you all over and whatever else we came up with. My original idea didn't pan out because they haven't gotten the aquarium back up and running yet. I was hoping to re-stage our first kiss at the Shedd Aquarium outdoor café looking out over Lake Michigan by going to the New York Aquarium in Brooklyn and sitting outside looking out over the Atlantic."

"Well, that would have been cool. We'll just have to wait until it reopens. Sandy made a mess of a lot of things." He sighed. "I like laying here in your arms. I'm super cozy."

"I was looking at my calendar for the rest of the semester. We have a little less than nine weeks until we go to Paris. It doesn't seem real yet, even though we bought our tickets."

"Let's go start some coffee and jump in the shower. We can eat the muffins we have leftover from yesterday, and then get back in bed and started on that kissing-me-everywhere plan you had."

* * *

When Kurt got home from class that afternoon, he found an envelope taped to the door. He opened it. "Find the rest of the instructions on our bed."

He went in, closed the door behind him, locking it as always. He hung his coat up on the back of the door and went to their room to find an outfit laid out on the bed with a note on top of it. "Wear this and follow the map and directions inside. Please don't look the address up on Google. I promise the map is drawn right. Brian did it for me. I want it to be a surprise. Come as soon as you change."

Kurt changed quickly and grabbed a different coat, slipping the small ID holder he had into his front pocket.

* * *

He walked straight up to Chandler and hugged and kissed him. "Aren't we a little overdressed for the New York Public Library?"

"Well, this is just our first stop. Come on." Chandler took his hand and excitedly led him up the stairs and into the building to the Bruno Walter Auditorium. He spotted seats and they made their way down the row carefully.

"What are we watching?"

"It's a program called 'Broadway's Future'. I just heard about it last week. It features an emerging Broadway composer and a lyricist and their songs are sung by current Broadway performers."

"How have we not heard about this before now? We both are studying Musical Theater."

"I don't know, but it seemed worth checking out."

The lights in the auditorium flickered and then dimmed.

* * *

An hour later, they were back on the steps outside the library.

"That was interesting," Kurt said.

"It was. I think it would be more interesting if we knew the plot of the musicals."

"That's what I was thinking, but it was definitely something different to do. What's next on your agenda?"

"Food. Definitely food. I made reservations for us. Let's go." He took Kurt's hand and he led them down the street.

"I'm supposing that this is a surprise too?"

"Of course." Chandler pecked him on the lips and squeezed his hand.

It didn't take long to get to the restaurant where Chandler had made reservations.

When Chandler stopped, Kurt looked at the sign. "Ooh. Brazilian food. We've not tried that yet," Kurt said enthusiastically.

* * *

Kurt took Chandler's hand as they left the restaurant. "That was the best steak I have ever had. You can't tell my dad that though."

Chandler smiled and shook his head slightly. "No, of course not. It can be our secret. My food was delicious too. Next on our agenda is–"

"Another surprise."

"Bingo!"

"Now, that's something we haven't done here in New York. Is the Lexington House hosting Bingo Night tonight?" Kurt teased.

"So close, but no."

When they got to the corner, the crossed the street and Chandler pulled Kurt into to bus stop area. They got on the next bus and rode it into Hell's Kitchen. When they got off, Kurt looked around, but couldn't come up with any reason to go to a place with a lot of restaurants when they had just eaten. He followed along as Chandler continued to hold his hand and lead him through the crowded sidewalk. They took a couple of turns and about a quarter of the way down the street, Chandler stopped.

"We're going clubbing? How is that even close to Bingo?"

"Well, it's not really, but I wanted to surprise you. We're just going to this place. It has an outdoor dance area out back that I thought you'd like a lot more than the crowded dance floor."

"Sounds perfect."

They turned the coats in, took the tickets for them, and headed out back. They made their way through the dance floor, which wasn't overly crowded. Once they were outside, Kurt wrapped his arms around Chandler and spoke into his ear so he could actually hear him. "Are you sure this place is gay friendly? I only saw straight couples."

"I'm sure. It says so on their website. One of the gay clubs is having a huge drag night tonight. I avoided it specifically because I wanted to be able to talk a little and dance without feeling like we're in a sardine can. Maybe most of the gay crowd went there tonight."

"Could be. My gain. Not that I don't love a good drag show, but I like the energy here and it's not super packed."

They let themselves get caught up in the music and dance for a couple of hours. On their way out, they saw Brian and Carlen. They waved and Carlen smiled and waved back. They picked their jackets up and went outside. Once they had them back on, Chandler reached out for Kurt's hand, which he took quickly and interlaced their fingers.

"Brian must have decided to give the place I try after I told him about my plan to bring you here."

"He's a very good secret keeper, helping both of us plan our surprises for each other."

"I didn't think about that until you just said that. I mean, I know you had him take notes for me this morning, but I just didn't put the two together. He's a good friend. It's so weird to think about interconnectedness of life sometimes. We met Carlen back when we did _Pip, Pip, Hooray!_ with the Apples. You took Brian to meet Adam and he joined the Apples. Brian told me that he liked Carlen from the first time they met, but he figured that Carlen would never be interested in dating someone ace, so he never let on that he liked Carlen until after the Masquerade when he found out that Carlen had wanted to invite him as his date, knowing that he was ace."

"They've been together for a little over four months. Time is so weird. In Lima, I felt like time was moving so slowly, like I was never, ever going to be out of high school. And since we moved here, it's just gone by so quickly."

Chandler teased him. "Thus the expression, 'Time flies when you're having fun.'"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "It's gone faster for me this semester than last. I like it at NYADA. It's hard, but it's fun too. I like learning to be better at what I love doing. And I'm looking forward to my FIT classes in Paris. Nine weeks, well almost nine until we go. I want to see so many places there. We'll have to set aside some time to do some planning. Sebastian and Adrien are being really nice to let us stay at their place the whole time. I don't want to put the sightseeing planning on them. I'm sure we'll do some things with them, but they're not our paid tour guides to keep us busy all the time."

"I'm super excited," Chandler agreed. "We do need to schedule Kinzy and Lara to come spend time with Queenie."

"I'm so sad that my beautiful girl can't come with us."

"I know. Finding out that she's too heavy to fly in her box as a passenger was a big disappointment. But she'll be okay. They'll take good care of her."

They headed down into the subway and stood close, but didn't try to talk over the noise.

Once they finally got on and got seats, Kurt scooted into Chandler's side. "I had a great time tonight. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I did too."

* * *

Tuesday at lunch, Kurt met Rachel as she had requested. He stepped inside their favorite vegetarian place and she waved from the front of the line. Kurt texted her his order and waited. As soon as someone got up, Kurt sat down. It didn't take long for an employee to wipe the table.

A few minutes later, Rachel carried the tray of food over. Kurt grabbed the cups and went to get their drinks while Rachel put their plates on the table, moving the tray out of the way. They had eaten lunch together there so many times that they had the whole process perfectly choreographed. Kurt put their drinks down and sat down.

"So," Rachel said, but then took a bite instead of finishing her sentence.

After a few bites, Kurt said, "So?"

"Well, first off, you were great as Kenickie. I know I told you already, but I thought it was worth repeating."

"Thank you. And you were a really funny Jan. I'd never really seen you in a comedic role, but you did a good job."

"Thanks."

"So, back to your 'so'…"

"Quinn."

"Quinn?"

"Mmm hmm." She took another bite.

"You mean Miss 'She's so beautiful and amazing that you could never quite figure out if you wanted her or you wanted to be her?'"

"I said that months ago."

"Back in September."

"Why do you remember it so clearly?"

"Oh, maybe when my previously 100% straight friend tells me that she might not be straight, my memory makes a permanent record of it."

She rolled her eyes. "So, I'm pretty sure than I'm a whole lot less than 100% straight. I think I'm 100% bisexual. And I think I'm in love with Quinn."

Kurt smiled and said, "Okay."

"Okay?"

"What do you want me to say? I think it's okay that you're in love with a girl, specifically Quinn. I'm fine with it. If you thought I was going to be shocked, I'm not. I've just been wondering how long it would take you to figure out the answer to your question, which seems to be that you want her."

"Kurt!"

"Yes, dear?" he asked sweetly.

She sighed. "You're impossible."

"Possibly. But what are you going to do about Quinn?"

"Obviously, I need to talk to her. I just don't know what to say."

"How about starting with the kiss? Ask her how she felt about it. I know she said she was fine with it, but she agreed much more quickly than someone who had never contemplated kissing a girl. She was so agreeable about it that it really did seem like she was interested in participating, not just sitting there and letting someone kiss her."

"She did kiss back." Rachel couldn't contain her smile.

"Mmm hmm. And you said that girls have softer lips than guys. I take offense to that, you know. But you refused to kiss me and find out, so your loss, especially since Britt says that I'm the best boy kisser." He preened teasingly.

Rachel snickered. "That was funny. The look on Noah's face was great."

"I missed that."

"So, tell me about kissing Brittany."

"Umm, she was nice?"

"No, I mean like the feeling it gave you."

"Oh, none really. She was partially laying on top of me, so that provided a bit of friction when she moved, but even that didn't help–" He raised his eyebrows and tilted his head a bit.

"Oh, right. Kissing Quinn was just as arousing as kissing Finn or Puck."

"Well, I'd say that backs up your 100% bisexual statement."

"Yeah. I've been doing a lot of thinking and I'm pretty sure that a lot of my watching the girls in dance class has more to do with enjoying watching them move than it does with wanting to move like them, which is what I've been telling myself all this time. And it's not because I'm afraid to be attracted to women, it's just that it feels different. But now that I've been really thinking about it, while it does feel different, it still feels the same. I really want to kiss her again." She blushed.

"But you don't want to make the first move."

"It's insane. My birthmother is already acting as Beth's grandma now because she still loves Beth. But that would make me her stepmom in a way. It's just so weird."

"Love _is_ a mystery."

"Kurt!"

"What? I mean I thought I loved Blaine. You thought you loved Finn. Maybe you even thought you loved Jesse."

"I did love Finn. I could have loved Jesse. I still could. Even with what he did. We just meshed, more so than Finn and I ever did. So, looking back, you don't think you loved Blaine?"

"It's hard to explain. I did love Blaine. I loved Blaine completely, but it was a broken circle. I thought we were in love. I poured my love and commitment into the relationship, but he needed affirmation and affection and attention from other people still. So, there was no way that I could ever love him enough for him to be satisfied. Remember when you first got tetchy when you saw me hug Adam?

She nodded.

"That jealousy response comes from you cheating on your partners and with someone else's partner. When you yourself are willing to cheat, it diminishes your ability to trust other people because you aren't trustworthy yourself. If you can't trust yourself, how can you trust anyone else? I never gave Blaine a reason to be jealous or feel like I would cheat on him, even when he definitely did give me reason to feel that way – that he would cheat on me."

"What do you mean?"

"Those Secret Admirer Valentine's gifts weren't from him."

"Really?"

"I'm not saying who they were from. I'm just pointing out that I had other options. But I turned the person down and did not lead him on in any way. Whereas, Blaine continued to flirt with Sebastian, and, well, Adrien when he was the one answering Sebastian's phone when Sebastian was busy."

"That's funny – and sad."

"You're right. But after I did a lot of thinking I realized that what it proved was that he was untrustworthy, which made it impossible for him to trust me and it caused him to feel like I wasn't doing enough to prove my love. Remember when I met Chandler?"

Rachel nodded again, continuing to eat.

"Blaine and I went to see Miss Pillsbury and Blaine told me that he had been cancelling our make-out sessions that _he_ had scheduled so that he would be able to practice what it was going to be like _without_ me."

"What?"

"Exactly. So, rather that just tell me that hearing me talk about moving to New York made him feel unimportant, he passive-aggressively scheduled time to be with me and then cancelled last-minute, leaving me to try to figure out what I had done wrong when apparently being a grade ahead of him in school was my only crime. Trying to plan for my future was what I was doing wrong."

"I should have stayed out of all of that. I am sorry about that."

"You've already apologized and you're right, you should have stayed out of it. You ended up learning a lot more than I had wanted anyone to know about what had gone on, but I do appreciate you keeping your end of signing the confidentiality agreement."

"That hit me hard. When you wouldn't tell me without me signing a binding legal agreement, I realized just how untrustworthy I had become. You had been shutting me out because I wasn't a good friend."

"But you changed."

"I'm still working on it."

"Chandler doesn't play passive-aggressive mind games. He doesn't come home and pout and ignore me until I finally realize that he's upset and then bite my head off about not caring or paying attention when I thought he was just being quiet and studying somewhere."

"Well, that's good."

"Things with Chandler are so different. If he's had a bad day or something didn't go the way he hoped it would, he seeks me out and asks if I have time to talk right then. I always try to make time for him immediately, but if I absolutely can't, he doesn't take it personally. He knows that I will give him my undivided attention as soon as absolutely possible. And we're up front with each other when we're upset about something that we're not ready to talk about yet, so that we don't leave the other feeling like it's personal."

"That's a good idea. I'm more like Blaine was. I know that I want people to notice something is wrong. I think that's what contributed to the stomping off. I felt like I was being ignored and stomping off gets people's attention quickly. I've quit now, but it was a hard habit to break."

"You have also come to the realization that no one can read your mind, right? You actually have to share your thoughts and feelings if you want to feel heard and understood."

She nodded. "I'm getting there."

They both went back to eating for a few minutes.

"I haven't told you yet, but I got a callback for Fanny and I went in. I got a call this afternoon. I've been offered the understudy role."

"Rachel, that's fantastic!" He paused. "You don't look thrilled."

"I wanted the lead, of course. I haven't responded yet. The director left a message on my voicemail this afternoon."

"You don't want the role?"

"I'm torn."

"You'll get to go on at some point. No one stays healthy and has no emergencies forever."

"I know. It's just a lot to think about. If I take the role, I'll be at the theater every evening except Sunday and Monday and I'll work six nights and two days a week. How will have time for school? As the understudy, I suppose I could do homework each evening at the theater in a dressing room. But it would pretty much eliminate my trips to New Haven until the end of the semester and I could take the train at 5:30 Sunday afternoon and arrive at Quinn's around 9:00. We'd have until Tuesday at lunch when I'd have to come back. And that would only be until the fall, when I'd have to try to not have any classes on Mondays, which as you know is about as likely as pigs flying."

"That's hard."

"So, I'm not just looking at long-distance, I'm looking at long-distance with very little time to offer her period. I wouldn't get back from the theater in the evenings until after she's gone to bed. I just don't know what to do."

"What all of this tells me is that you care about her a lot more than maybe you realize because honestly, the instant you got into NYADA, you broke it off with Finn because you knew he didn't want to come here and that he wasn't going to fit into your Broadway dream. But Quinn fits into your Broadway dream even less, but you are trying to figure out how to change something, anything, to make it so that you can have it all."

"I know. I'm going to go talk to Madame Tibideaux. I'm pretty sure she'll tell me to not take the role. I'm 99% sure that she'll tell me that I'm not ready. And a year ago, I would have argued with her, but now I'm not sure. I'm going to listen to what she has to say, and then think about it. I'm not going to mention Quinn though. I want her professional opinion of my readiness as a performer."

"I think that's a really mature thing to do. I'll tell you that being in _Into the Woods_ while still working my regular job for the hours I had been scheduled was a lot. And _Into the Woods_ is an ensemble show, whereas Fanny really carries _Funny Girl_. I think going to school full time and doing the show would be hard, but as you said as the understudy, you'd have time to do work each evening. I think you'd have to stay a few days ahead on your assignments. Otherwise, you could have to perform with little notice, causing you to lose the time you were going to use to do your assignments. And the next day in school, you'd not have your work done."

"That's true. I'd have to be super organized." She rolled her neck and let it stay hang down towards her chest for a minutes before she looked back up. "Why does it have to be so complicated? A year ago, it all seemed so simple. If Quinn hadn't gotten in that car wreck, I would have married Finn that day. What a mess that would have been. But I was so convinced that I was right." She sighed. "I could be completely wrong about this."

"You could be, but most of it's not undoable. I mean if you quit NYADA, that might not be undoable, but you could apply to NYU or some other school. What's the saying? The only thing you can't change is death and taxes? Something like that. As long as you're still alive and well, you can change your course. I mean Rebel Wilson went to law school. Natalie Portman attended Harvard while she was in all of those _Star Wars_ movies. But, a lot of actors have no degrees. Obviously, I want the training, but it's clearly not a prerequisite to getting a role on Broadway or on a TV show or in a movie. A lot of it has to do with sheer dumb luck as some people call it – just being in the right place at the right time. We don't have a crystal ball. We just keep going down the path that seems the best until there's a tree blocking it or there's a stream we can't cross."

"That's true."

"You know I don't believe in God or destiny or soulmates. And while it may seem contradictory, I can simultaneously believe that there are a lot of people out there that I could be well-suited to be married to while also believing that Chandler is the one for me. I don't feel the need to go looking for the other guys who I could marry and be happy with. I'm happy now. And right now, I'm studying to be a stage actor while still working on my degree in fashion design. My career path isn't clear to me right now. I'd really, really like to be a stage actor, but what if Mr. Schue and my dad are right and there are no roles for me? My dad suggested writing them myself. I certainly don't have the training I need to do that yet. But what if I write things that no one wants to back financially or watch? Designing clothes might not work out either. They're both risky career options, but I'm going to put my all into both and see where it leads me. I guess what I'm getting at is that you might make the wrong choice, but if you're still alive, you're still going to be able to make another choice when you realize the first one isn't working out."

"I like predictability, but life isn't predictable. Thanks for listening to me ramble."

"That's what friends do. And we're real friends now. No more frenemies."

"Definitely not. Speaking of Mr. Schue. Did you hear what happened? Never mind. I'm sure you did since Finn is still leading the Glee Club."

"I did hear. I know you liked him, but he didn't actually lead the club well. It was crazy how many talented people there were in our group, but he chose you and Finn to feature, and Blaine later."

"It's hard to be objective, but listening to Quinn talk about it from her point of view has helped me a lot. I think it's ridiculous that Sue's still on her warpath."

"I'm waiting to see what happens next. Her vendetta always centered around Mr. Schue. Now that he's gone, we'll see if she changes her mind about Glee Club."

"That's true." She glanced to her right. "We need to get going though because there are several people who keep giving me the stink eye because we've finished eating and not gotten up."

Kurt nodded. He took their cups up to the fountain and refilled them while Rachel cleared the table. She took her drink from him and they headed back to NYADA.

* * *

Kurt and Chandler spent time over the next few weeks working on itinerary for Paris. They made list of places they definitely wanted to visit, along with the cost, if any and the directions on how to get there from Sebastian and Adrien's place.

Kurt began working on his Spring Critique piece, which was specifically requested by Madame Tibideaux. Chandler's last few weeks of classes seemed to require him to write a paper for each one. He spent extra time on campus working on them since several required access to the non-circulating books in the NYU library.

They continued to host game nights and sing-alongs at their apartment every other weekend. They had Kinzy and Lara spend the night afterwards each time to help Queenie get accustomed to them being there.

* * *

It had been five weeks since Kurt had gone out to lunch with Rachel. They had both been really busy, and still were, but he went anyway. Since they were short on time, Kurt ordered ahead and they picked up their lunch for carryout and took it back to the courtyard at NYADA and had a picnic since the weather was nice.

As soon as they were back outside, Rachel said, "I made the right choice to turn down the role. The revival of _Funny Girl_ lost its funding. They were set to start rehearsals next week."

"Well, that's really sad news overall, but I'm glad you didn't give up NYADA for it."

"Me too. Besides that, being Shelby's understudy would have just been too weird. We've made a lot of progress, but I wasn't ready for that on a personal level."

"What are you performing for the Spring Critique?"

"'Don't Rain on my Parade'. What about you?"

"'Not the Boy Next Door.' She must be having each of us perform the song we auditioned with last spring. I bet we're going to get notes detailing our improvement over last year as well as things we still need to work on."

"That will be interesting – to see what everyone sang."

"It will."

"I heard that Tina chose Columbia in the end, even though she had originally wanted to go to Brown. She got waitlisted and she decided that she'd rather be in New York. And Artie got into the film school he applied to in Brooklyn."

"That's good, if that's where he wanted to go."

"It is. It was his first choice. They tied for Valedictorian like Quinn and Mike. You should have been tied with them."

"It doesn't matter. No one cares now. Anything else you want to tell me before we reach the heart of gossip, aka the courtyard?"

"Kissing Quinn the second time was even better than the first."

"Oh, my God, Rachel. You finally talked to her about it."

"Actually, she talked to me about it. She said I could tell you. She's known for a long time that she wasn't straight, but she said that she didn't have the fortitude it would have taken to come out in high school. After she got pregnant and tanked her rep, she couldn't bring herself to stay at the bottom. You remember the Glist. After her mom took her back, being straight was her only option. She was confined by 'enforced heteronormativity'. Her words. But she says that she's ready to break free from that now."

"So, she hasn't told her mom or Noah yet."

"No. We just had this conversation a couple of days ago. She's going to wait until the semester ends to tell her. That way if it gets heated, the conflict won't affect her ability to study for finals."

"Makes sense."

"I'm staying in New Haven for the summer."

"With Quinn?"

"No. I'm renting a room in a house, well, subletting a room from a Yale student. I'm auditioning for the summer festival there. If I don't get a role, I'm enrolling in a drama class at Yale for the summer. Madame Tibideaux said that it would transfer as a drama elective."

"Those sound like good options."

"And you're going to go to Paris."

"It's going to be amazing. Shall we?" He motioned to the entry point to the courtyard.

She chuckled. "Time to turn on the filter."

"I know. The gossip chain is the most effective part of the school."

* * *

Kurt and Chandler finished their final presentations, papers, and exams the middle of May. They had gone through their lists multiple times and began to pack throughout the week, finishing on Saturday morning.

Kinzy and Lara arrived in a taxi, bringing their boxes from their dorm. Kurt and Chandler helped them bring them up. Kurt and Chandler moved the remainder of Chandler's clothes to Kurt's side of the closet for the summer, leaving room for Lara and Kinzy to hang their clothes. They stacked their boxes in the center of Kurt's side to get them out of the way until they had time to go through them and pull out what they'd need over the summer.

Later that afternoon, Finn called. Kurt put him on speaker. "So, how did it go?"

"We came in third. We did really well. For a practically all-new group, I think we did amazing. Oh, and Sue's not disbanding us, just demoting us to the dance studio."

"That's great. Congratulations!"

"Thanks, man. I gotta go!"

A few minutes later, Kurt's phone rang again.

"We came in fifth. It was amazing. I'll send you the video later. I gotta go."

"Congratulations!"

That evening they held their final game night for the semester. They had a full house with everyone in attendance – Rachel, Quinn, Adam, Callie, Dahlia, Veronica, Kinzy, Lara, Brian, and Carlen. They ordered pizza like they had the very first time they had invited people over.

Once everyone had left for the evening, Kurt and Chandler double-checked that they were leaving everything that Kinzy and Lara would need for the eight weeks they'd be gone.

* * *

The next morning, they both gave Queenie a hug and kiss on the top of her head before they left to take a taxi to the airport, choosing the extra expense over having two suitcases each, plus their carry-ons on the subway.

They arrived in Toledo a few hours later. Finn and Janine picked them up and drove them to meet all four parents at the Cracker Barrel in Findlay before starting their week of visiting family and friends in Lima. Santana, Brittany, Mercedes, and even Sam were all going to be in town for the week. Sam was staying with Finn and Janine on their couch.

Several days that week, they had lunch with Burt and Carole, who were home for the week as well. They had dinner with Sharon and James times as well. They visited Chandler's grandparents and his Grandma in Dayton.

They spent some time with everyone at Brittany's cookout and pool party. Kurt and Sam went out one day while Chandler spent the day with Janine. They enjoyed their stay.

* * *

A week after they had left for Ohio, Kurt and Chandler found themselves waiting to retrieve their luggage alongside Sebastian and Adrien at Charles de Gaul airport.

Kurt bounced up on to his toes and back down. He leaned into Chandler. "This is going to be the most amazing summer. I'm here in Paris with you." He turned to Adrien and Sebastian. "I can't thank you enough for inviting us and letting us stay with you."

Adrien smiled. "You're welcome. You don't need to keep thanking us. We're glad you accepted our offer."

"I'm still in shock about Isabelle arranging for me to work as her PA here in Paris when she arrives for Men's Fashion Week at the end of June. Not only will it be super cool, it will give me a lot of experience. But before that, sightseeing. Lots and lots of sightseeing!"

"As soon as we drop our luggage off at home, we're starting with the biggest tourist attraction of all," Sebastian said.

"The Eiffel Tower," Kurt and Chandler said in unison.

"Jinx," Chandler said.

Kurt narrowed his eyes.

"Kurt," Chandler said, freeing him to speak again.

"Jinxing me will not keep me from talking. Nope, not at all."

Sebastian teased Kurt. "I don't think there's a way to keep him from talking."

"Sure there is," Chandler said as he stepped towards Kurt and kissed him.

Sebastian cracked up. "Yeah, I should rephrase that. There's not a way for _me_ to keep him from talking."

"I am totally ready to see everything on our itinerary."

"You have a good list, but we have a few, well, maybe more than a few, other places we want to take you – places we love."

Chandler said, "Ooh, insider information. We're definitely in. We'd love to go anywhere you want to take us."

Adrien laughed. "You say that now… But I've been trying to convince him that I'm not sure that you'll enjoy a few of the clubs he wants to take you to."

"We're in. If we don't like the place, we can leave," Kurt said. "I want to know what it's like here. If we stick to just our list, we'll miss out on seeing the Paris that you two know and love."

Adrien acquiesced. "Okay, then."

Sebastian just cackled. "I cannot wait to see the look on your faces tonight." He looked at Adrien. "Raidd?"

Adrien sighed. "You're choice. I think you'll give them culture shock."

Kurt's last suitcase finally came around the carousel. He grabbed it and they headed to customs.

* * *

Two hours later, the four of them were atop the Eiffel Tower looking out over the city. Kurt was pointing out different places that were on their list of places to see. After naming about ten, he wrapped his arm around Chandler. "This is going to be the most awesome summer ever!"

Chandler turned and kissed him. "It definitely will be."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I combined the historical failed attempt at a Broadway revival of _Funny Girl_ in 2011/12 and the upcoming Broadway revival staring Idina Menzel as Fanny to create the scenario that happened in this chapter.


	37. Chapter 37

While Kurt and Sebastian had become good friends, Sebastian had never really completely given up his love of annoying Kurt just a little. It was never enough to make Kurt really angry, but enough to make him roll his eyes and sigh frequently. Kurt figured that Sebastian's evening plans would serve as a way to tease Kurt and bother him, all while upping the ante from having taken him and Blaine to Scandals. Scandals was pre-school, while expected wherever they were going that night would be college.

They dressed up in clothes they'd be comfortable being up on their feet for hours, and after checking himself in the mirror several times, Kurt declared himself ready. Before Chandler managed to say anything, Kurt looked over his shoulder in the mirror to where Chandler was standing behind him. "I know. I'm sure there's something about wherever we're going that Sebastian thinks I'm too much of a baby gay to enjoy. Adrien was obviously trying to persuade him to take us somewhere else. I didn't quite catch the name of the place or I would have looked it up."

"Whatever it is, we don't have to stay. Adrien gave both of us keys already. We can leave and come back here. And if it's just risqué, we can dance together and ignore everyone else." Chandler walked around Kurt and turned to face him. "Not liking something doesn't make you a baby. You know he just enjoys teasing you."

"I know. I really am ready if you are. I don't want him teasing me for primping all evening."

Chandler kissed him softly. "I'm ready."

* * *

They entered Raidd together. Kurt and Chandler wrapped their arms around each other's waists so they wouldn't get separated. They moved in towards the center of the room while Sebastian and Adrien went to the bar to get themselves drinks.

Kurt looked around and wasn't all that surprised by what he saw, which was lots and lots of guys dancing and making out on the dance floor. There were a fair few women as well. They were dancing in groups mostly. Kurt stepped closer to Chandler and put his hands on his hips and let them slip around the back to just below his waist. He closed his eyes and felt the rhythm of the music pulse through him and they began to move together. They'd been dancing together for over a year. They knew how to move together sensually.

When Sebastian and Adrien came towards them after finishing their drinks, Kurt didn't notice them since he had closed his eyes to focus on the feeling of moving against and with Chandler.

Chandler caught sight of Sebastian looking the two of them up and down with a surprised look on his face. He quickly gave them an approving, yet slightly shocked look and pulled Adrien into his embrace and they began to dance as well.

Kurt wasn't sure how long they had been dancing, but he needed some water. He pointed towards the bar and Chandler just nodded and kept hold of Kurt's hand. When they made it to the bar, Kurt ordered them a bottle of water to split. Sebastian and Adrien had followed them.

"It's a good time for a break. The show's about to begin," Sebastian said.

"Show?" Kurt asked. "What do you mean 'show'? Is there a drag show?" He looked hopeful, but all he saw on the stage was the DJ and his equipment.

"Nope. Not a drag show," Adrien said. "But if you like those, I'm sure we can find a good one somewhere at some point." He moved to another area, motioning for the others to follow him.

Lights turned on in a glassed-in area elevated above floor, giving everyone in the vicinity the ability to see inside. A man entered in small swim trunks and began to shower, very sensually, to the rhythm of the music.

Kurt watched what he figured was going to be the equivalent of cage dancing, except in a shower. He became less and less convinced his assumption was correct as the seconds ticked by. It became clear that it was a striptease, and Kurt looked at Chandler, who kept looking back and forth between the shower dancer and Kurt.

He leaned into Kurt. "Do you want to leave?"

"Do you?"

"I don't want to give Sebastian the pleasure of winning his little jab at me and my lack of interest in porn. I'm sure that's why he chose this place – to prove that it's amazing and seductive and erotic. And that I'd like it, if I'd just get over myself and relax."

"You don't really seem tense."

"I'm not. I would have been a couple of years ago, and I might be if we were in Ohio where you have to be 21 to get into a club like this. But we're not breaking any laws. And I'm with you. I don't have any reason to be tense." He moved behind Chandler and wrapped his arms around him and propped his chin on his shoulder. "From the looks of everyone in here, everyone is really into this, except me and a few guys with girls with them."

Sebastian looked over at them with an expectant look on his face that morphed into confusion. He shrugged and went back to enjoying the shower show.

Kurt continued to stand behind Chandler with his arms wrapped around him and his chin propped on his shoulder. He closed his eyes, leaned into him, and turned his head just enough to be able to kiss Chandler's neck. Before the guy in the shower stripped, Chandler turned in Kurt's arms and kissed him.

"You aren't enjoying this are you?" He asked, speaking directly into Kurt's ear.

Kurt leaned in so that their cheeks pressed together so they could hear each other speaking over the din of the music and chanting. "No. But you are, aren't you?"

"Not really. If I had come to a place like this before we were dating, I would have gotten into it."

"I don't mean to be a wet blanket and take the fun out of it for you."

"It's not that. It's just that for me it just feels like cheating while you're with me. I'm not making judgment calls about Sebastian and Adrien. Obviously they enjoy coming to places like this together and they both get off on watching the guys strip. I just don't feel that way. I'd rather go home and watch you strip. You do a much better striptease than the guy up there. And when you get all sexy in the shower, I can touch you and join in." He pressed his lips to Kurt's and kissed him passionately. "You are so much more sexy than the guy in the shower."

"That cannot possibly be true."

"Am I sexier than the guy in the shower?"

"Most definitely."

"Then beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? I think you're sexier than he is." Chandler's hands slipped down past Kurt's waist and he pulled Kurt impossibly closer. "Feel that? That's all from dancing with you, not from Mr. Shower. I don't want to touch him or be with him. I want you. Just you."

"But without me here, you'd be enjoying yourself."

"That's not what I meant, Kurt. Even if you weren't physically here with me, I wouldn't want that guy. My hormones might tell parts of my body other things, but my mind would never listen. And I'm here with you, enjoying our sexy dancing together in a place where we fit in." He kissed Kurt again. He moved back so he was speaking into Kurt's ear. "I love you. I enjoy dancing with you. If they want to come here again, we can decline and find another place where we can just dance without guys stripping. I don't need strippers to have a good time. I can think he's sexy and attractive without being drawn away from you. He's no one to me, Kurt. You're my best friend, my lover, and my fiancé. We're going to get married."

Kurt nodded. "I love you too. I just don't want to be the one who ruins your boys' night out adventures and makes everything uncomfortable because being around hot, sexy guys that are stripping doesn't do anything for me." He moved a bit so he could kiss along Chandler's neck, up to his ear. "But you do. You absolutely get me worked up. You can feel that."

Chandler nodded. He was having a hard time saying anything with Kurt licking the edge of his earlobe, pressing himself against him, and talking into his ear. He finally came to his senses and pulled back a bit. "I really want to go home and replay the shower scene with you. Let's find Sebastian and Adrien and tell them that we're leaving."

* * *

When Sebastian and Adrien came in a couple of hours later, Kurt and Chandler were dressed in pajamas in the living room snuggled up on the sofa watching a movie. Chandler was lying on his side with his head on Kurt's lap. They both still had slightly damp hair from the second shower they had taken.

Sebastian sat down in the chair across from them and Adrien sat down on the floor in front of the chair, leaned back. Sebastian started to play with Adrien's hair in silence for a few minutes. Kurt sensed that he wanted to talk, so he paused the movie.

"You didn't like the club." Sebastian stated flatly.

Kurt took a deep breath. "The club was fine. It was the stripping I didn't get into."

"Why?"

"I actually did some research after we got back. I'm pretty sure that I'm demi-sexual."

"I don't know what that means," Adrien said.

"Me neither," Sebastian admitted.

"It means that I don't have a primary sexual attraction to people. This is probably TMI, but standing there in the club watching the guy in the shower did nothing more for me than watching a girl do the same thing. It's just not sexually arousing." His face turned red as he spoke. "It's why when I tried looking at porn when I was younger, all that came to mind was why would someone get that tattoo there?"

Sebastian chortled.

"Exactly. It was never an arousing endeavor. My 'ideal' guy never had a face or specific body. He didn't have bulging muscles or a big dick or body hair or lack thereof. The physical aspect wasn't what I was attracted to sexually. Not exactly anyway. I mean I always liked jocks and guys with some muscle tone. But looking at muscle magazines didn't give me a boner. But at the same time, I fall hard and fast for a nice guy. But even then it was falling for them romantically. As big of a crush as I had on Finn, I never actually considered what I would _do_ with him beyond hold hands and kiss."

"I don't get this at all," Adrien said. "So you can look at naked guys or porn or the stripper at the club and it does nothing?"

"Exactly."

Sebastian said, "I'm sorry."

Kurt was completely confused. "For what?"

"For teasing you. I didn't know about this. It was like teasing you because you were gay or something. I thought you were just uptight and needed to relax. I thought you'd like the club once you were in a safe place to enjoy it and you weren't being overly self-conscious or afraid."

"It's fine, really. In your place, knowing my history, I would have probably assumed the same. But someone I know is asexual and I did some minor research after they told me. I should have looked into it more. I didn't think it fit me because I am definitely sexually attracted to Chandler." His blush grew deeper. "This is really awkward."

"I won't tease you anymore." The sincerity and remorse was evident in Sebastian's voice. "I don't understand at all, but my understanding isn't required to be decent about something that's part of who you are."

"I appreciate that. I'm probably not doing a good job of explaining it. It's sort of like when someone asks you how you can _not_ think that some girl they find attractive is hot."

"Been there," Sebastian said.

Adrien still looked a bit confused. "So, you've never seen a guy, gotten a boner, and thought 'I'd do that.'?"

"Nope. I honestly could never figure out why straight guys said things like that."

Sebastian said, "Okay. I think we're going to go shower and head to bed, but before we go, are all clubs out?"

"Definitely not. I just won't get anything out of going to a strip club. If I'm dancing with Chandler, I'm definitely going to enjoy myself." He ran his hands through Chandler's hair and the blush that had faded came back a bit.

"Okay." He sighed. "Again, I'm sorry."

"You couldn't have known what even I didn't understand about my differences in this area. I think I'd rather just move on and put being demi-sexual in the category of things like my eye color or other things that just are. I could fake all of those things. I could fake being sexually attracted to people I've never met before and know nothing about, but it would be like wearing colored contacts. I'm me. I'm just different in one more way than I knew about yesterday."

"Okay. Adrien and I will stick to strip clubs on nights you have other plans or we can just not go while you're here. It's not a big deal. For us it's just fun, but we can have fun doing other things." Sebastian gently pushed Adrien's shoulders, letting him know that he wanted to get up. "We'll see you in the morning. We checked the weather and we're going to go to Montmartre tomorrow morning."

They stood up and headed upstairs.

"Ooh, we'll head to bed then and watch this some other time." Kurt pushed the power button on the remote.

Sebastian checked the lock on the door and followed Adrien up the stairs.

Chandler stretched before he sat up. He stood up and pulled Kurt into a hug. He kissed him. "I love you."

Kurt spoke really quietly. "I know I wasn't completely honest with them, but I can't bring myself to say the rest out loud. If they knew that I'm not having sex with you, they'd pity you, and I just don't think I can take that."

"That's fine." He gently guided Kurt's face so that he could look him in the eyes. "What we do together is our business. No one else's." He kissed Kurt on the forehead as his head drooped a bit. "Hey." He lifted Kurt's chin. "I'm not unfulfilled. I'm not settling."

"When I was reading, the article mentioned that some people on the asexual spectrum still have sex with the partners anyway, out of love – even though the actual act isn't appealing to them. I know I told you before, but if you ever feel like what we do isn't enough, please tell me. I love you so much. I would never want to lose you over it. I would have sex with you because I love you."

"I appreciate that. I do. But I'll give you the same answer I gave you the first time you brought this up. I'm happy with the way things are. I don't see that changing, but if it does, we'll talk. I won't go out 'looking for what you won't give me' or whatever is floating around in your mind right now."

Kurt nodded. "I just needed to tell you. That part of the article that talked about being sex-positive, sex-neutral, and sex-negative?"

"Mmm hmm?"

"I don't have genuinely strong feelings against it. I'm not absolutely revolted by the idea of it. I think I'm sex-neutral. It just doesn't appeal to me."

"Okay. What you are to me can be simplified down to 'the man I love'. I love our life together and I am absolutely in love with you. And one day we're going to get married."

Kurt's lips curled into a slight smile, but his eyes lit up. "I'm not really sleepy because my body says that it's 7:00pm, despite the clocks saying that it's 1:00am. Unfortunately, the clocks will be the ones to dictate that it's time to get up in seven hours. Let's go snuggle. Maybe we'll fall asleep."

"Mmm. Sounds perfect."

* * *

Kurt and Chandler enjoyed their seven weeks in Paris. They managed to visit all of the places that were on their bucket list, plus Sebastian and Adrien took them to places both in Paris and other places in France that they loved as well. Their enthusiasm didn't wane throughout their stay. So many times, they were transported through history, and each time was magical.

They both enjoyed the courses they took as well. Attending the fashion courses in Paris and working with Isabelle during Paris Fashion Week renewed Kurt's interest in the field. Chandler enjoyed attending his classes at NYU Paris.

It was a difficult farewell at the end of their stay. Chandler's French had improved enough that he had gotten to where he felt more at ease and they both wished they could stay for the rest of the summer.

They had become much closer friends with Sebastian and Adrien during their stay as well and knew they would really miss them. They said their goodbyes at the apartment before Kurt and Chandler headed back to the subway for the long ride to the airport.

* * *

Settling back in was harder than Kurt had anticipated. They had grown accustomed to free time and sightseeing and relaxing when they weren't in class.

For Kurt, being back in New York City meant going to work full time at the garage and taking the classes at FIT that he needed to be able to graduate when he wanted to. He missed working at _Vogue_ , but knew that he'd be back there when the interns returned in September.

Chandler went back to his job at the variety shop part time. He found a second job working in the children's section of a bookstore like he had in high school. He made quick friends with Dani who worked in the music section. Kurt and Chandler rarely saw each other since the bookstore job was in the evenings, as were Kurt's classes.

By the time school started in the fall, they were glad the second half of the summer was over. They went back to working part time, which gave them a little more time to themselves again.

* * *

The weekend before classes started they got new neighbors across the landing. They had seen the sign on the building for the opening and they had let Adam know since he had graduated in May and he had been holding off on getting a place until he found a place he really liked because after living in the dorms for four years, he really didn't want to live in a place with a shared bathroom anymore. He had couch surfed the first part of the summer, including spending some time at their place with Lara and Kinzy.

About a week after they had left for Paris,, Adam got a part in a Broadway show and he met a cute barista named Elliott that worked at the coffee and tea shop he started frequenting after he got the part. Elliott was living in just the type of shoebox that Adam was hoping to avoid. The two of them hit it off and had been dating for a little over two months when Kurt told Adam about the apartment, which they loved. It was just a mirror image of Kurt and Chandler's place and they took it immediately.

* * *

They invited Nick and Jeff, who had just started at Columbia, over on Saturday after the first week of school. They both got a kick out of being led to the taquería by Queenie. After returning with lunch, which included a piece of fish for Queenie for bringing them more new customers, they both got a kick out of watching her eat her prize so daintily.

After they finished eating, they sat around talking for quite a while. Nick and Jeff shared that they had been together for three years, but they weren't planning to tell their parents until after they graduated. They made up for lost time and became fast friends, quickly becoming part of the regular group of people in Kurt and Chandler's lives. They were sad to lose Dahlia and Veronica to the Broadway tour they had both been cast in, but they were happy for their professional success.

The extra time from working fewer hours was brief since both of them got roles in their schools' fall productions. Elliott was also cast in the NYU production. It didn't take long for the both Dani and Elliott to become regulars at Kurt and Chandler's biweekly get-togethers. Dani wasn't a performance major, but they found out that she was a fabulous musician and occasionally went to the diner she worked as her second job to put tips in the jar so she'd get to perform. She and Callie hit it off the first time they met at one of Kurt and Chandler's game nights.

After the musical and play were over, Kurt talked up the idea of a cover band to Elliott and Dani. He invited Rachel to join, certain that she had grown past turning into diva on him. Chandler put the drum lessons he'd been taking in exchange for teaching magic tricks to one of the guys he had worked with at the bookstore to good use with the band in addition to singing with them.

Rachel and Quinn were still dating casually and exclusively, not putting a lot of pressure on their relationship but making it clear that they wouldn't date other people. Rachel went to New Haven for winter break.

After their positive visit before they went to France, Kurt and Chandler opted to go to Lima for a week of winter break. Dani had fallen in love with Queenie and was a native New Yorker, so she wasn't leaving town and was able to care for Queenie while they were gone.

* * *

Kurt and Chandler returned to their apartment on the 24th, in time to be at home for Christmas. Before they left, they had had a party to decorate like they had the year before, so when they came in they walked into the apartment already decorated festively. After he put his luggage in the bedroom, Kurt went back out into the living room and turned the lights on. He picked Queenie up and stroked her fur just the way she liked while he sweet-talked her.

"We'll be right back out to have a nice, big snuggle with you. We need a shower first. Flying makes me feel all grimy." He put her down on the sofa and kissed the top of her head. "You wait right here." He turned and nearly tripped over Chandler.

"You're adorable, you know?"

"I'm glad you think so." Kurt slipped past him and started undressing and dropping articles of clothing on the way to the bathroom.

"I'm assuming this trail of clothes is my invitation."

"You're always invited. We haven't showered apart in ages when we're both home, except for my quick after-work showers when I was just too gross to even consider sitting down before showering."

Chandler chuckled and followed Kurt into the shower.

True to his word, Kurt and Chandler put on pajamas and transformed the sofa into its bed form. They got out a fluffy blanket and all of their pillows and cuddled up on the couch with Queenie to watch _Home Alone_.

* * *

Christmas morning, they made breakfast together and moved back to the sofa for a snuggle after they ate.

"You know what happened a year ago today?" Chandler asked.

"Mmm hmm." He looked down at his ring.

"You made me the happiest guy by accepting the ring you're looking at." He took Kurt's hand and intertwined their fingers. "I'd like us to plan our wedding. I know I said I wasn't in a hurry and I won't rush you if you're not ready, but we will have been together for two years in March."

"Mmm hmm." Kurt turned and straddled Chandler's lap.

Chandler spread his knees enough to let Kurt get comfortable. He wrapped his arms around Kurt, who put his forearms on Chandler's shoulders and started to play with the back of his hair.

Kurt asked, "So do you have a date in mind?"

"I did. I thought it would be cool to get married on our second anniversary, but that's on a Tuesday. We'd have to do it in the evening and we wouldn't be able to go anywhere for a honeymoon right away since we'd still have class that week."

"After I kiss you senseless, I'll get a calendar and we can talk about it."

"You always have the best ideas." He pulled Kurt closer and tipped his head up to kiss him.

* * *

Three months and one day later, Kurt and Chandler were waiting outside the newly renamed Dolloway Dance Hall, where Kurt had performed for the grand reopening just two weeks earlier. They had planned an intimate wedding with 30 people in attendance, including themselves. Not everyone they had invited was able to attend, but they knew that would be the case no matter what date they chose since many of their friends worked multiple jobs and some were in shows.

They were both dressed in black suits that Isabelle had gifted them from the vault that Kurt had tailored to fit them perfectly. He had also made them paisley jacquard vests, ties, and pocket squares – crimson for Chandler and deep cobalt blue for himself, which they wore with black silk long-sleeve button up shirts.

There were eight tables set up along the back and partially up the sides of the room. In the center of the room, the chairs were set up in three rows with eight chairs in the front row for family and ten chairs in each of the other two rows.

They had been unable to come to a consensus on who to include in the wedding party because they were equally close with so many of their friends that they didn't want to leave anyone feeling slighted, so they chose to walk in simultaneously along the sides with both of their parents.

When the music started the two of them stepped inside the room and took their places between their parents. When they got to the end of the first row, Sharon and James sat next to Marlene and Zack. Burt and Carole sat next to Finn and Janine. Once they were seated, Kurt and Chandler continued to the front and stood in front of the officiant.

Since they had decided to continue to wear the rings they already had, it was a short and simple ceremony with each of them saying the vows they had written.

Once the ceremony ended, everyone moved their chairs to the tables, which had been dressed in black tablecloths covered with multi-colored square mandala fabric featuring patterns in black, cobalt blue, and deep red, and black napkins. The centerpiece on each table was a single deep red rose with baby's breath in a unique vintage cobalt blue glass bottle that the two of them had fun searching flea markets to find.

They had the dinner catered by a small company that Dani had recommended. The food was served as soon as everyone was seated. Instrumental light jazz music played during the meal.

Once everyone had finished eating the tables were cleared and the other end of the room was set up for the band. The cake was brought in and set up on Kurt and Chandler's table. Both Burt and James made short speeches and toasts. Kurt and Chandler cut the cake together and fed each other their first bites. The servers from the catering company served slices to everyone else.

After they had all eaten their slices of cake and the plates were cleared, the lights in the room were dimmed and they turned on the blue twinkle lights that they had put up along the tops of the door frames and windows.

"Truly, Madly, Deeply" began to play and Kurt and Chandler had their first dance as husbands to the same song they had danced to under twinkle lights in Kurt's back yard the first time Kurt and Chandler shared their first declaration of love for each other.

When they finished their dance, they moved to the stage and started the open mic portion of the evening by Finn singing "Kiss Me" as Kurt and Chandler had requested. Everyone who wanted to perform did so while the others danced and enjoyed the music. This lasted for a couple of hours and was fantastic with all of the amazing performances given by all of their friends. Throughout the evening, Kurt and Chandler danced with everyone who was there. As the last song to be performed, the newlyweds took center stage and sang together, switching back and forth through the song between singing the lead and the harmony.

_Tell me only this.  
That I'll have your heart for always.  
And you want me by your side,  
Whispering the words "I'll always love you."_

_And forever,  
I will be your lover.  
I know you really care,  
And I will always be there._

_I need to tell you this.  
There's no other love like your love.  
And I, as long as I live,  
I'll give you all the joy  
My heart and soul can give._

_Let me hold you.  
I need to have you near me.  
And with you in my arms,  
This love will last forever._

_Because I'm truly,  
Truly in love with you.  
I'm truly head over heels for you, Love.  
I need you. And with your love I'm free.  
And truly, you know you're alright,  
With me._

When they finished, they stepped down off the stage and hugged everyone before they left to spend the evening at a nearby hotel in the honeymoon suite as a gift from their parents. For their actual honeymoon, they were waiting until the semester ended.

* * *

They went back to France for the first summer session like they did the year before. They spent the first week in the south of France for their honeymoon. They stayed with Sebastian and Adrien for the rest of the time and attended classes. Kurt worked with Isabelle again during Paris Fashion week.

* * *

In the spring of their senior year, both _Peter Pan_ and _Funny Girl_ were being revived for Broadway runs. Kurt and Chandler auditioned for _Peter Pan_ , as did several of their friends. Rachel auditioned for the role of Fanny again.

* * *

Kurt went in at his assigned time to audition for Peter and sat down with about 40 young women.

The director came in after everyone was seated. He addressed Kurt. "This is the audition for Peter. Perhaps, you're here at the wrong time?"

"No, sir. I'm here to audition for Peter."

"The open call was for women - age 18-25."

"I'm aware, but I'd like to audition anyway."

"Suit yourself." He looked down at his sheet and called the first woman's name.

* * *

After his auditioned, he met up with Rachel at their long-standing vegetarian restaurant of choice. She sat down at the table he had secured while she was in line. He grabbed the cups and returned as she had moved the tray off the table.

"So how do you think it went?"

"I'll hope for the best, while assuming that I have a small chance of getting a role as one of the Lost Boys since they were actually auditioning guys my age for those roles. But that's a long shot since I didn't specifically audition for any of those parts. But as far as my performance went, I think I did my best. We'll just have to see. How much longer until you hear back about Fanny."

"Never, I think. It's been so long that I would have heard by now if I had gotten it."

"I think Chandler's a shoo in. God, his voice. He was great as Hook our freshman year, but as he's gotten older, his voice has gotten so rich. I love listening to him sing."

"You're such a sap. You're still so puppy hearts eyes with him. It's cute. I'm glad you're so happy."

"I am. Four years together."

"It's hard to believe that you've been married for two years already."

"Are you going to Finn and Janine's wedding in two weeks? I know he invited everyone from Glee Club. We'll get to see people we haven't seen in a long time."

"I am going. It will be weird, but I'm an adult and I'm not in love with him anymore. I'm glad he's found someone to share the life he wanted. And Janinie is super sweet."

"She is."

"It will be fun to see everyone too."

* * *

A week later, Rachel called Kurt. As soon as he swiped to answer her call, she started speaking so quickly that it took him a second to catch up.

"The director showed up at the diner today and told me that I was Fanny! I'm Fanny. I'm Fanny. I did it!"

"That's amazing, Rachel. I'm so happy for you."

"It's going to be nuts because rehearsals start next week and we still have ten weeks of school left."

"You can do it."

"I know. I'm going to quit the diner though. I want to finish NYADA on a good note, not with bad grades for my last semester."

"That makes sense. You'll get paid starting next week anyway. You'll just have a week or two with no income, depending on how the musical pays."

"I don't need the money. I know that sounds bad. My dads are paying my room and board until I get a full-time job after I graduate. You know I took the job at the diner because I had no real life experience. I needed to move out of my cocoon."

"I remember telling you that."

"It was definitely a good choice, even if I struggled at first." 

"All the butterflies that make it struggle at first."

"I don't know if I ever told you, but I looked that up after you told me that."

Chandler unlocked the door and came in.

Kurt's phone rang. It was a number he didn't recognize. "Hey, Rachel, I have another call coming in. I'll call you right back." He disconnected and answered the incoming call. "Hello?"

"Is this Kurt Hummel?"

"It is."

"Great. I'm calling to let you know that we've decided to cast you as Peter."

Kurt was in shock and didn't respond.

"Are you there?"

"I am. Sorry. I was too shocked to speak."

The man chuckled. "I'll email you details on rehearsals, which will start in two weeks. We'll be holding them in the evenings. We know that a good portion of our cast is in college and we'd like to give them the opportunity to finish the semester."

"Thank you."

"We're looking forward to getting things rolling. I have other calls to make. We'll see you in two weeks." The man disconnected.

Kurt sat there stunned for a few seconds. Chandler sat down next to him. Kurt called Rachel back and put her on speaker.

"I'm Peter. I'm going to be the first man to play Peter on Broadway."

"Kurt, that's fantastic!" Rachel said. "It's amazing."

"It is," Chandler added. "I came home to tell you that I got a call as well. I'm Captain Hook."

"That's perfect." He turned and kissed Chandler. "It's perfect."

Chandler said, "Lara, Kinzy, Brian, and Carlen got parts too."

"That's great news, too," Rachel said. "I'm sure they'll text and tell me. Anyway, that will be a lot of fun for you two to already know people in the cast. I'll have to wait until the first rehearsal to see if I know anyone in _Funny Girl_ , but it will be amazing to work with Paolo San Paolo as Nick Arnstein. This is such an amazing opportunity. I know that if this had happened right after we got here, I would have totally been a nightmare about it, even having been cast as the understudy. But not now. I'm ready for this now. I just hope they managed to get better investors this time around."

"Me too. I'm going to let you go so I can call my dad," Kurt said.

"My dads are thrilled. I'll talk to you two later."

Kurt turned to Chandler. "I feel like I'm dreaming, but this is real. We did it! "

"It's real. Call your dad and Carole. I'll go to the bedroom to call my parents and Janine."

* * *

Mid-May brought with it warmer weather and a plethora of graduation ceremonies, including two for Kurt. Burt and Carole stayed with them for several days between the two. Sharon and James came for a couple of days before Chandler's ceremony.

All of the graduates descended upon New York City the third weekend in May to celebrate. They rented a room in an Asian fusion restaurant and went out dancing afterwards. Sam had opted not to attend college, but celebrated moving his art gallery out of his dining room and setting up a studio and gallery for local artists in a small storefront. He brought Delaney, his girlfriend of two years with him. Mercedes brought signed copies of both of her albums for everyone with her, along with bringing her boyfriend Rolan with her to meet everyone.

* * *

Due to some scheduling issues, _Peter Pan_ opened at the end of May, a month before _Funny Girl_. During the month before the opening, Kurt and Chandler appeared on several morning talk shows on TV and were interviewed numerous times. Word had spread even before previews about a man being chosen as Peter and how Peter and Captain Hook were married in real life. They drew quite a bit of attention from the press.

Sharon, James, Marlene, Zach, Burt, Carole, Finn, Janine, Sam, and Mercedes all came to town to attend their opening night in June. The show went as perfectly as it could have. Nick, Jeff, Elliott, Adam, Quinn, Rachel, Puck, Sarah, Beth, Callie, and Dani had come to see the show at different points during previews. Santana and Brittany, who were also engaged, had promised to come later in the summer.

Burt was the first to pull Kurt into a hug when he came out afterwards. "You did it! I'm so proud of you. You've been great in everything you've been in all through school, but this was a level above any of those." He hugged him again. While he had him close, he said, "Your mom would be so proud of you too." He let go of him so he could be hugged by everyone else.

After the opening night party, Kurt and Chandler were still too excited to go home and sleep. They invited the cast to go with them. Several of them did. Finn, Janine, Mercedes, Rolan, Sam, Delaney, Nick, Jeff, Rachel, and Quinn went out with them to a late-night karaoke place. Before anyone could get up to sign up to sing, Sam announced his engagement by having Delaney show everyone her ring finger. Everyone congratulated them. Mercedes introduced Rolan, who toured with her as personal security, to everyone who hadn't already met him earlier in the evening.

Once they had caught up for a few minutes, Kurt signed up to sing. He looked through the song choices until he settled on one that he knew by heart, but had never sung for anyone. He sat down with the other three until his name came up. His voice soared out clear and strong as he sang.

_Buildings with a hundred floors  
_ _Swinging around revolving doors  
_ _Maybe I don't know where they'll take me, but  
_ _Gotta keep moving on, moving on  
_ _Fly away, breakaway_

_I'll spread my wings  
_ _And I'll learn how to fly  
_ _Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye  
_ _I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change  
_ _And breakaway_

_Out of the darkness and into the sun  
_ _But I won't forget the place I come from_  
_I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change  
_ _And breakaway_

He bowed slightly at the thunderous applause, much of which was generated by the group of people that came with him. He took his seat in the booth next to Chandler and slid in close and kissed Chandler. "I didn't break. I made it. I'm flying."

"Eight times a week," Chandler teased.


End file.
